Stage 2: Tour of Britain

Cees Bol claimed his first victory since March 2021 in dramatic style as he dramatically pipped young British star Jake Stewart to win stage two of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain in Duns on Monday.

CEELS BOL CLAIMS DRAMATIC AJ BELL TOUR OF BRITAIN STAGE IN DUNS

Cees Bol claimed his first victory since March 2021 in dramatic style as he dramatically pipped young British star Jake Stewart to win stage two of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain in Duns on Monday.

The Team DSM rider timed both his sprint and bike throw to the line to perfection to claim his first victory in the race, denying Stewart the same achievement in the process by just one thousandth of a second.

Corbin Strong (Israel – Premier Tech) placed third to extend his lead at the top of the standings and claim the AJ Bell leader’s jersey for another day. The Kiwi rider now leads by eight seconds from Stewart, with Omar Fraile (INEOS Grenadiers) on the same time, and also holds the Dodl by AJ Bell Points jersey with an extended eight-point advantage.

Speaking after pulling on the red AJ Bell leader’s jersey for the second day, Strong said; “I’m confident as I am sprinting well at the moment. I was there or there abouts but there was some fast guys still there at the finish though, so third was the best I could do today. I’m really happy again, and hopefully it continues.

“It’s a really nice and pretty humbling experience actually. Having some guys that I’ve grown up watching like Michal Kwiatkowski and Riche Porte congratulate me, it’s a really cool feeling as a young neo-pro being recognised by guys like that. It was a nice day for me and hopefully it continues.”

Looking ahead Strong said; “It’s going to be really interesting. The Tour of Britain is one of those races that with weather and the unknown nature of the roads, any day it can split to pieces so it’s really hard to tell. I’m in a really privileged situation to have guys like Reto [Hollenstein], [Alex] Dowsett and Mason [Hollyman] to defend the lead and then obvious the experience of Michael [Woods] and Dylan [Teuns] as some cards to play as well.”

King of the Mountains

The race had sparked into action as the peloton took on a trio of late ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs in the Lammermuir Hills above Duns, with the final riders from the day’s breakaway – Sportsbreaks.com Sprints leader Matt Teggart (Wiv SunGod) and overnight ŠKODA King of the Mountains leader Stephan Bassett (Human Powered Health) – caught just after the summit of Wanside Rigg.

INEOS Grenadiers then controlled the race on the narrow roads across the open moorland onto the second climb, with Jacob Scott (Wiv SunGod) jumping away near the top of the second climb of Mainslaughter Law to secure enough points to move into the ŠKODA King of the Mountains jersey that he has won in the past two editions of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain.

Scott’s advantage as short lived as Davide Gabburo (Bardiani CSF Faizanè) went clear on the descent, building a 30-second lead. The Italian was caught approaching the top of the final climb of Hardens Hill, with German champion Nils Politt (BORA – hansgrohe) driving over the top and briefly going clear before Dylan Teuns (Israel – Premier Tech) countered.

The Belgian looked to have done enough on the fast descent into Duns but was caught first by Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), and then as the pair hesitated, a Team DSM led peloton.

DSM put Bol into a good position coming into Duns but as the road gradually rose past the Jim Clark Museum it looked like an inspired late charge from the Great Britain team was going to deliver Stewart to victory, only for the Coventry rider to be denied by the narrowest of margins.

“It was obviously a nice day for me”, said Bol. “But it was a pretty hard day. It was not an easy stage and when the final kicked off the first two climbs were on the tailwind sectors and that was actually really hard, I was on the limit of dropping and giving up. I kept fighting and then on the headwind it was a bit easier to stay in the bunch, and then over the top of the last climb my team-mates found me and put me in the best position. From there it was just the last 200 metres all out, fighting through the cramps and throwing the bike.”

For Stewart the result marks a best performance in his home Tour, coming a day after finishing just outside the top ten at Glenshsee.

“We can be happy with the work we did, obviously it is disappointing to come away with second but the lads did a really good job and we will take it from here” he remarked after the stage. “We had a good day yesterday and a really good day today, and there are still plenty more opportunities to come

“We had a plan going into the day with the boys and we executed it really well. We knew where we had to be over those last few climbs. We had Sam [Watson] there to lead us out, we knew it was an uphill sprint with a slight headwind and really, I wanted to come from behind but we found ourselves on the front. I was pretty confident in my long sprint, I’ve always been pretty good over a long distance, but in the end the finish was about five metres too far!”

Wiv SunGod hold both the Sportsbreaks.com Sprints and ŠKODA King of the Mountains jerseys with Matt Teggart and Jacob Scott respectively, while fellow British team Saint Piran made a first visit to the AJ Bell Tour of Britain podium as Adam Lewis collected the Adyen Combativity Award.

The AJ Bell Tour of Britain resumes on day three in the north east of England on Tuesday 6 September with a stage between the cities of Durham and Sunderland. Stage three takes the race 163.6 kilometres (101.7 miles) via Chapel Fell in the northern Pennines – the highest paved pass in England – through the likes of Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland. Live coverage of the stage begins on ITV4 at 10:45.

…. continued after the advert.

RESULTS

THE STAGE – 2
1 BOL Cees DSM NED B:10″ +00
2 *STEWART Jake GBR GBR B:06″
3 STRONG Corbin IPT NZL B:04″
4 ANIOLKOWSKI Stanislaw BWB POL
5 LAMPERTI Luke TRI USA
6 VAN ROOY Kenneth SVB BEL
7 *PIDCOCK Thomas IGD GBR
8 PRADES Eduard CJR ESP
9 *BROWN Jim RDW GBR
10 MARCELLUSI Martin BCF ITA
11 *BIRCHILL Harry SPC GBR
12 GROSSSCHARTNER Felix BOH AUT
13 AASVOLD Kristian HPM NOR
14 *WATSON Sam GBR GBR
15 BARCELO Fernando CJR ESP
16 POLITT Nils BOH GER
17 VAN POUCKE Aaron SVB BEL
18 PERRY Benjamin RDW CAN
19 SERRANO RODRIGUEZ Gonzalo MOV ESP
20 BATTAGLIN Enrico BCF ITA
21 IACCHI Alessandro T4Q ITA
22 MOLLY Kenny BWB BEL
23 VANHOOF Ward SVB BEL
24 MERTENS Julian SVB BEL
25 FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar IGD ESP
26 DESAL Ceriel BWB BEL
27 FIORELLI Filippo BCF ITA
28 TEUNS Dylan IPT BEL
29 SKAARSETH Anders UXT NOR
30 *CULVERWELL Sam TRI GBR
31 PEYSKENS Dimitri BWB BEL
32 TILLER Rasmus UXT NOR
33 ELOSEGUI MOMEÑE Iñigo MOV ESP
34 JORGENSON Matteo MOV USA
35 JOHANNESSEN Anders Halland UXT NOR
36 HAMILTON Christopher DSM AUS
37 MARTIN GALAN Sergio Roman CJR ESP
38 *REES Oliver TRI GBR
39 *POOLE Max DSM GBR
40 SHEFFIELD Magnus IGD USA
41 SUNDERLAND Dylan GLC AUS
42 PAASSCHENS Mathijs BWB NED
43 PARISINI Nicolo’ T4Q ITA
44 WOODS Michael IPT CAN
45 ZANA Filippo BCF ITA
46 HEINSCHKE Leon DSM GER
47 GABBURO Davide BCF ITA
48 CHARMIG Anthon UXT DEN
49 NICOLAU BELTRAN Joel CJR ESP
50 BARRENETXEA Jon CJR ESP
51 RODRIGUEZ GARAICOECHEA Oscar MOV ESP
52 *DONALDSON Robert GBR GBR
53 *SWIFT Connor GBR GBR
54 *GLOAG Thomas TRI GBR
55 ROSSKOPF Joseph HPM USA
56 MEENS Johan BWB BEL
57 *ONLEY Oscar DSM GBR
58 *JOHNSTON Calum CJR GBR
59 DE VYLDER Lindsay SVB BEL
60 ABREHA Negasi Haylu T4Q ETH +14″
61 *SCOTT Jacob RDW GBR +41″
62 MAYRHOFER Marius DSM GER +48″
63 PORTE Richie IGD AUS +1’57”
64 *SCOTT Robert RDW GBR +2’17”
65 4 *NERURKAR Lukas TRI GBR
66 *RICHARDSON Alexandar SPC GBR +3’43”
67 *ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack SPC GBR
68 *LEWIS Adam SPC GBR B:01″ +4’06”
69 *HOLLYMAN Mason IPT GBR +5’59”
70 URIANSTAD Martin Bugge UXT NOR +9’28”
71 JOHNSTON Liam TRI AUS +11’14”
72 SESSLER Nicolas GLC BRA
73 HOLLENSTEIN Reto IPT SUI
74 MITRI James GLC NZL
75 WATTS Kiaan GLC NZL
76 BASSETT Stephen HPM USA
77 TEGGART Matthew RDW IRL B:09″
78 JENSEN August HPM NOR
79 SCHUNK Conor GLC USA
80 ERVITI Imanol MOV ESP
81 *KYFFIN Zeb RWC GBR
82 AMADOR Andrey IGD CRC
83 *LAMB Ross RWC GBR
84 PELTONEN Ukko GLC FIN
85 *GIDDINGS Joshua GBR GBR
86 STEDMAN Travis T4Q RSA B:06″
87 *TANFIELD Charlie RWC GBR
88 *TANFIELD Harry RWC GBR B:02″
89 COATI Luca T4Q ITA
90 *MAZZONE Leon SPC GBR
91 KWIATKOWSKI Michal IGD POL
92 PÖSTLBERGER Lukas BOH AUT
93 *GIBSON Matthew HPM GBR
94 MANNION Gavin HPM USA
95 MEEUS Jordi BOH BEL
96 ARCHBOLD Shane BOH NZL
97 SAYERS Cooper SPC AUS
98 MODOLO Sacha BCF ITA
99 GONZÁLEZ RIVERA Abner MOV PUR
100 LARSEN Niklas UXT DEN
101 BONNEU Kamiel SVB BEL
102 TOWNSEND Rory RDW IRL +15’55”
103 *DOWSETT Alex IPT GBR
104 ARAYA Nahom T4Q ERI
105 *CROCKETT Finn RWC GBR +16’59”
106 *CHARLTON Josh GBR GBR +19’55”
107 WALTERS Red RWC GRN

Best of British on the Stage
1 STEWART Jake GBR GBR B:06″ +00
2 PIDCOCK Thomas IGD GBR ‘ ‘
3 BROWN Jim RDW GBR ‘ ‘
4 BIRCHILL Harry SPC GBR ‘ ‘
5 WATSON Sam GBR GBR ‘ ‘
6 CULVERWELL Sam TRI GBR ‘ ‘
7 REES Oliver TRI GBR ‘ ‘
8 POOLE Max DSM GBR ‘ ‘
9 DONALDSON Robert GBR GBR ‘ ‘
10 SWIFT Connor GBR GBR ‘ ‘
11 GLOAG Thomas TRI GBR ‘ ‘
12 ONLEY Oscar DSM GBR ‘ ‘
13 JOHNSTON Calum CJR GBR ‘ ‘
14 SCOTT Jacob RDW GBR +41″
15 SCOTT Robert RDW GBR +2’17”
16 NERURKAR Lukas TRI GBR ‘ ‘
17 RICHARDSON Alexandar SPC GBR +3’43”
18 ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack SPC GBR ‘ ‘
19 LEWIS Adam SPC GBR B:01″ +4’06”
20 HOLLYMAN Mason IPT GBR +5’59”
21 KYFFIN Zeb RWC GBR +11’14”
22 LAMB Ross RWC GBR ‘ ‘
23 GIDDINGS Joshua GBR GBR ‘ ‘
24 TANFIELD Charlie RWC GBR ‘ ‘
25 TANFIELD Harry RWC GBR B:02″ ‘ ‘
26 MAZZONE Leon SPC GBR ‘ ‘
27 GIBSON Matthew HPM GBR ‘ ‘
28 DOWSETT Alex IPT GBR +15’55”
29 CROCKETT Finn RWC GBR +16’59”
30 CHARLTON Josh GBR GBR +19’55”

THE OVERALL
1 STRONG Corbin
2 *STEWART Jake GBR GBR 8h45’06” +08″
3 FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar IGD ESP
4 JOHANNESSEN Anders Halland UXT NOR 8h45’08” +10″
5 *PIDCOCK Thomas IGD GBR 8h45’12” +14″
6 SERRANO RODRIGUEZ Gonzalo MOV ESP
7 VAN ROOY Kenneth SVB BEL
8 GROSSSCHARTNER Felix BOH AUT
9 PRADES Eduard CJR ESP
10 FIORELLI Filippo BCF ITA
11 TEUNS Dylan IPT BEL
12 IACCHI Alessandro T4Q ITA
13 MOLLY Kenny BWB BEL
14 ANIOLKOWSKI Stanislaw BWB POL
15 AASVOLD Kristian HPM NOR
16 BATTAGLIN Enrico BCF ITA
17 SKAARSETH Anders UXT NOR
18 VAN POUCKE Aaron SVB BEL
19 PAASSCHENS Mathijs BWB NED
20 JORGENSON Matteo MOV USA
21 ZANA Filippo BCF ITA
22 SUNDERLAND Dylan GLC AUS
23 POLITT Nils BOH GER
24 *REES Oliver TRI GBR
25 CHARMIG Anthon UXT DEN
26 PERRY Benjamin RDW CAN
27 MERTENS Julian SVB BEL
28 HAMILTON Christopher DSM AUS
29 ELOSEGUI MOMEÑE Iñigo MOV ESP
30 *ONLEY Oscar DSM GBR
31 MARTIN GALAN Sergio Roman CJR ESP
32 WOODS Michael IPT CAN
33 RODRIGUEZ GARAICOECHEA Oscar MOV ESP
34 DESAL Ceriel BWB BEL
35 *SWIFT Connor GBR GBR
36 NICOLAU BELTRAN Joel CJR ESP
37 PEYSKENS Dimitri BWB BEL
38 SHEFFIELD Magnus IGD USA
39 GABBURO Davide BCF ITA
40 *GLOAG Thomas TRI GBR
41 *POOLE Max DSM GBR
42 PARISINI Nicolo’ T4Q ITA
43 BARRENETXEA Jon CJR ESP
44 *JOHNSTON Calum CJR GBR
45 MEENS Johan BWB BEL
46 DE VYLDER Lindsay SVB BEL
47 *CULVERWELL Sam TRI GBR 8h45’21” +23″
48 *WATSON Sam GBR GBR 8h45’23” +25″
49 BARCELO Fernando CJR ESP 8h45’25” +27″
50 ROSSKOPF Joseph HPM USA
51 ABREHA Negasi Haylu T4Q ETH 8h45’41” +43″
52 MARCELLUSI Martin BCF ITA 8h45’53” +55″
53 LAMPERTI Luke TRI USA 8h45’54” +56″
54 VANHOOF Ward SVB BEL 8h46’16” +1’18”
55 *SCOTT Jacob RDW GBR 8h46’31” +1’33”
56 PORTE Richie IGD AUS 8h47’32” +2’34”
57 HEINSCHKE Leon DSM GER 8h47’38” +2’40”
58 *SCOTT Robert RDW GBR 8h47’44” +2’46”
59 *BROWN Jim RDW GBR 8h47’47” +2’49”
60 *BIRCHILL Harry SPC GBR
61 *DONALDSON Robert GBR GBR 8h48’05” +3’07”
62 MAYRHOFER Marius DSM GER 8h48’13” +3’15”
63 BOL Cees DSM NED 8h48’36” +3’38”
64 TILLER Rasmus UXT NOR 8h48’40” +3’42”
65 *RICHARDSON Alexandar SPC GBR 8h50’03” +5’05”
66 *NERURKAR Lukas TRI GBR 8h50’24” +5’26”
67 *HOLLYMAN Mason IPT GBR 8h51’11” +6’13”
68 *ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack SPC GBR 8h51’48” +6’50”
69 *LEWIS Adam SPC GBR 8h52’45” +7’47”
70 URIANSTAD Martin Bugge UXT NOR 8h55’34” +10’36”
71 JOHNSTON Liam TRI AUS 8h56’26” +11’28”
72 MANNION Gavin HPM USA
73 *KYFFIN Zeb RWC GBR 8h56’35” +11’37”
74 GONZÁLEZ RIVERA Abner MOV PUR 8h56’37” +11’39”
75 MODOLO Sacha BCF ITA
76 SAYERS Cooper SPC AUS 8h56’41” +11’43”
77 MITRI James GLC NZL 8h56’49” +11’51”
78 JENSEN August HPM NOR
79 STEDMAN Travis T4Q RSA 8h57’12” +12’14”
80 SCHUNK Conor GLC USA 8h57’28” +12’30”
81 MEEUS Jordi BOH BEL 8h57’30” +12’32”
82 SESSLER Nicolas GLC BRA 8h57’47” +12’49”
83 *LAMB Ross RWC GBR
84 LARSEN Niklas UXT DEN 8h58’52” +13’54”
85 *MAZZONE Leon SPC GBR 8h59’01” +14’03”
86 ERVITI Imanol MOV ESP 8h59’13” +14’15”
87 *TANFIELD Harry RWC GBR 8h59’17” +14’19”
88 KWIATKOWSKI Michal IGD POL 8h59’21” +14’23”
89 PÖSTLBERGER Lukas BOH AUT 8h59’31” +14’33”
90 BASSETT Stephen HPM USA 8h59’45” +14’47”
91 HOLLENSTEIN Reto IPT SUI 8h59’54” +14’56”
92 WATTS Kiaan GLC NZL
93 PELTONEN Ukko GLC FIN
94 *TANFIELD Charlie RWC GBR
95 AMADOR Andrey IGD CRC
96 *GIDDINGS Joshua GBR GBR
97 COATI Luca T4Q ITA
98 ARCHBOLD Shane BOH NZL 9h00’00” +15’02”
99 *GIBSON Matthew HPM GBR 9h00’14” +15’16”
100 TEGGART Matthew RDW IRL 9h00’49” +15’51”
101 TOWNSEND Rory RDW IRL 9h01’07” +16’09”
102 ARAYA Nahom T4Q ERI 9h01’22” +16’24”
103 BONNEU Kamiel SVB BEL 9h02’27” +17’29”
104 *CROCKETT Finn RWC GBR 9h02’30” +17’32”
105 *DOWSETT Alex IPT GBR 9h05’48” +20’50”
106 WALTERS Red RWC GRN 9h08’31” +23’33”
107 *CHARLTON Josh GBR GBR 9h08’55” +23’57”

POINTS
1 STRONG Corbin NZL IPT 28
2 PIDCOCK Thomas GBR IGD 20
3 STEWART Jake GBR GBR 19
4 BOL Cees NED DSM 15
5 FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar ESP IGD 14
6 JOHANNESSEN Anders Halland NOR UXT 13

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS
OVERALL
1 SCOTT Jacob GBR RDW 19
2 BASSETT Stephen USA HPM 17
3 TEGGART Matthew IRL RDW 12
4 STRONG Corbin NZL IPT 10
5 FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar ESP IGD 9
6 JOHANNESSEN Anders Halland NOR UXT 8
7 SERRANO RODRIGUEZ Gonzalo ESP MOV 7
8 PORTE Richie AUS IGD 7
9 PIDCOCK Thomas GBR IGD 6
10 TEUNS Dylan BEL IPT 5
11 GIBSON Matthew GBR HPM 5
12 FIORELLI Filippo ITA BCF 4
13 ONLEY Oscar GBR DSM 3
14 WOODS Michael CAN IPT 3
15 POLITT Nils GER BOH 2
16 CHARMIG Anthon DEN UXT 2
17 LEWIS Adam GBR SPC 2
18 URIANSTAD Martin Bugge NOR UXT 2
19 ZANA Filippo ITA BCF 1
20 SHEFFIELD Magnus USA IGD 1
21 AMADOR Andrey CRC IGD 1

Wanside Rigg – km 151.2
1 TEGGART Matthew IRL RDW 4
2 BASSETT Stephen USA HPM 3
3 LEWIS Adam GBR SPC 2
4 PORTE Richie AUS IGD 1

Mainslaughter Law – km 158.4
1 SCOTT Jacob GBR RDW 4
2 PORTE Richie AUS IGD 3
3 WOODS Michael CAN IPT 2
4 SHEFFIELD Magnus USA IGD 1

Hardens Hill – km 169.2
1 SCOTT Jacob GBR RDW 4
2 PORTE Richie AUS IGD 3
3 POLITT Nils GER BOH 2
4 WOODS Michael CAN IPT 1

SPRINTS
1 TEGGART Matthew IRL RDW 18
2 STEDMAN Travis RSA T4Q 6
3 GIBSON Matthew GBR HPM 5
4 SCOTT Jacob GBR RDW 4
5 TANFIELD Harry GBR RWC 2
6 LEWIS Adam GBR SPC 1

BEST OF BRITISH
1 STEWART Jake GBR GBR 8h45’06” +00
2 PIDCOCK Thomas IGD GBR 8h45’12” +06″
3 REES Oliver TRI GBR 8h45’12” ‘ ‘
4 ONLEY Oscar DSM GBR 8h45’12” ‘ ‘
5 SWIFT Connor GBR GBR 8h45’12” ‘ ‘
6 GLOAG Thomas TRI GBR 8h45’12” ‘ ‘
7 POOLE Max DSM GBR 8h45’12” ‘ ‘
8 JOHNSTON Calum CJR GBR 8h45’12” ‘ ‘
9 CULVERWELL Sam TRI GBR 8h45’21” +15″
10 WATSON Sam GBR GBR 8h45’23” +17″
11 SCOTT Jacob RDW GBR 8h46’31” +1’25”
12 SCOTT Robert RDW GBR 8h47’44” +2’38”
13 BROWN Jim RDW GBR 8h47’47” +2’41”
14 BIRCHILL Harry SPC GBR 8h47’47” ‘ ‘
15 DONALDSON Robert GBR GBR 8h48’05” +2’59”
16 RICHARDSON Alexandar SPC GBR 8h50’03” +4’57”
17 NERURKAR Lukas TRI GBR 8h50’24” +5’18”
18 HOLLYMAN Mason IPT GBR 8h51’11” +6’05”
19 ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack SPC GBR 8h51’48” +6’42”
20 LEWIS Adam SPC GBR 8h52’45” +7’39”
21 KYFFIN Zeb RWC GBR 8h56’35” +11’29”
22 LAMB Ross RWC GBR 8h57’47” +12’41”
23 MAZZONE Leon SPC GBR 8h59’01” +13’55”
24 TANFIELD Harry RWC GBR 8h59’17” +14’11”
25 TANFIELD Charlie RWC GBR 8h59’54” +14’48”
26 GIDDINGS Joshua GBR GBR 8h59’54” ‘ ‘
27 GIBSON Matthew HPM GBR 9h00’14” +15’08”
28 CROCKETT Finn RWC GBR 9h02’30” +17’24”
29 DOWSETT Alex IPT GBR 9h05’48” +20’42”
30 CHARLTON Josh GBR GBR 9h08’55” +23’49”