Local hero Stannard powers to win in Tour of Britain stage 3

Ian Stannard took an emphatic solo victory following a long-range attack on stage three at the Tour of Britain.

The Team Sky Brit put his local knowledge to great use with a powerhouse ride, making the day’s early four-man break, before pushing clear of his rivals with 40 kilometres to go.

Stannard pushed out his advantage and had plenty of time to celebrate, crossing the line in Tatton Park with a winning advantage of one minute and 46 seconds.

Elsewhere the general classification picture remained fairly stable, with Julien Vermote (Etixx – Quick-Step) overall leader, ahead of Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data).

After the stage a very happy Stannard explained: “It was a big day on home roads and I was pretty motivated for the stage. I was keen to get away in the break.

“It’s always nice to win from a breakaway – solo as well – so I’m really happy about that. I knew over the climb we had about five minutes and that gave us a chance on the run-in. I heard the gap went out so I was pretty happy.

“There were some really awesome crowds out today and the roads were packed on all the climbs. It’s really great to see people get behind the race and it makes it all the more special racing at home.”

Tour of Britain 2016 – stage 3 results (Congleton – Tatton Park, Knutsford):

1 Ian Stannard (Sky)

4:14:12

2 Graham Briggs (JLT Condor)

+01’46”

3 Kristian House (ONE)

,,

4 Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani CSF)

+05’43”

5 Danny Van Poppel (Sky)

,,

6 Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Alpecin)

,,

7 Christopher Latham (WIGGINS)

,,

8 Rick Zabel (BMC)

,,

9 Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac)

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10 Luka Mezgec (Orica-BikeExchange)

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General classification after stage 3:

1 Julien Vermote (Etixx – Quick-Step)

12:53:15

2 Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data)

+06”

3 Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step)

+01’04”

4 Xandro Meurisse (Wanty Groupe Gobert)

+01’08”

5 Ben Swift (Sky)

,,

6 Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal)

,,

7 Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac)

+01’12”

8 Guillaume Martin (Wanty – Groupe Gobert)

,,

9 Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin)

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10 Nicolas Roche (Sky)

+01’16”