Nic Dlamini held on to secure the King of the Mountains category in the penultimate stage of the Tour of Britain following yet another exciting day of racing. It was, again, a strong team performance as Scott Davies also finished the day as the best British rider following the stage finish in Mansfield.
The stage was won by Ian Stannard (Team Sky) who, after being in the break for over 200km, produced an excellent final effort to see off Nils Politt (Katusha) with Giovanni Carboni (Bardiani) in third.
Earlier on, Dlamini had gone into the stage with a small lead of six points in the KoM category but the team ensured that he was in position to cover any moves from his nearest rivals. That capped off an excellent team effort throughout the race as the jersey stayed within the team right from the start.
With the three KoM opportunities within the first 70km of the day’s stage, the longest of the race at 215km, the team’s early focus was to seal that competition, which it duly did.
The team, under the leadership of Mark Renshaw, then reset it sights to ensure the position of Best British rider remained with Scott Davies, who took home his third tankard of beer home courtesy of the sponsors.
Sunday’s final stage is a circuit race around some of London’s most iconic landmarks in a 77km race that will in all likelihood result in a sprint finish.
