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The duel between Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe on the Tour of Great Britain definitely took the way of the Belgian in the first half of the race, but although Van Aert secured his second stage victory in four days at the top of the Great Orme peninsula in Llandudno, regaining the lead, the Frenchman led him closely and a repeat of his 2018 overall victory is just around the corner.
Not far behind the duo thanks to a mature demonstration of controlled driving, 22-year-old Londoner Ethan Hayter almost kept his lead in the general classification at the most difficult finish of the race. With just 2 seconds behind Van Aert, he has a chance to get him back in Thursday’s race through Cheshire.
With a good wind behind them, Van Aert and Alaphilippe should be the big favorites for the road world title in Belgium in two and a half weeks and the sprint finish on the Elm was worthy of a world championship. The backdrop was spectacular: scree, caves, a boulder litter and huge boulders, although the wild goats that invaded Llandudno from the Elm during the lockdown luckily kept away.
Hayter’s Ineos Grenadiers teammates controlled the initial climb from Llandudno at the start of the loop around the headland, and the first part of the final steep climb to the line, with the tram to the right of the riders, reduced the group head of about 50 to three a kilometer from the end: Van Aert, Alaphilippe and the Canadian Michael Woods, Hayter driving at his own pace a few meters behind.
As the slope eased and the leading trio stalled and feigned, the race leader joined them 300m from the line, with Alaphilippe’s teammate Mikkel Frølich Honoré, who started the sprint for his leader. Alaphilippe set off 150m from the finish, Van Aert made his way to his wheel 50m later, and equalized 50m from the left, only deviating at the approaching the checkered flag.
Earlier, the stage had traveled north via the Irish Sea coast and Snowdonia, with Jake Scott of the Canyon dhb SunGod team making his presence felt during an early escape for the third stage of the race. on road out of three possible. His ability to sniff out each day’s break means his chances of winning the King of the Mountain award or the Intermediate Sprint award at the end of the week are good.
The general classification is more difficult to predict. Hayter finished 8 seconds behind Van Aert in fifth place, the Belgian reclaiming the blue leader’s jersey thanks to the 10-second bonus for the stage victory. Only 11 seconds now separate Van Aert and Alaphilippe, third. One of those lines is set to win in Aberdeen on Sunday, and it could be tight until the end.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s intermediate sprints at Congleton, Wilmslow and Chelford all feature three, two, and one second bonuses for the top three, and it will be in Hayter’s best interests to contest them; the arrival at Warrington, however, is reserved for Mark Cavendish.
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