Tour of Britain 2013 - Stage 8
The Tour of Britain concluded today with an 88 kilometre city circuit through London. It was set to be a fitting end to what has been widely considered as the best Tour of Britain since the race's reconception back in 2004. The circuit was pan flat, so the favourites would be Mark Cavendish, who has already won two stages in the race, and Elia Viviani, winner of the race's first stage.
The criterium course did not put off a breakaway, and no one was surprised to see this year's serial escape artist Angel Madrazo of Movistar present. He was joined by Peter Williams (IG-Sigma Sport), who was looking to pick up sprint points to dethrone Madrazo; the duo were also joined by Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp), Sergio Pardilla (MTN-Qhubeka), Shane Archbold (An Post-Chain Reaction), and Andreas Schillinger (NetApp-Endura). Bauer was also eyeing the intermediate sprints, but not for the points, for the time bonuses, he lay just three seconds behind Sergio Pardilla at the start of the stage.
Jack Bauer did succeed in taking the time necessary for him to move up to fifth, but Peter Williams could not get the points required to take the sprints jersey off the back of Angel Madrazo. He thought he had, but the race commisaires judged him to have moved Madrazo with his hand during one of the sprints, meaning the Spaniard took home both the sprints jersey and the King of the Mountains jersey.
The peloton were never going to let the break escape on a day like this, and they were soon brought back within the last 30 kilometres. Alex Dowsett (Movistar) had a brief dig, but was also reeled in by the peloton, who were hungry for another bunch sprint.
It was Cavendish's Omega Pharma-Quickstep team who dominated the front of the race, they were obviously eager to put the Manx Missile in place for a win. It turned out to be the perfect lead out, Alessandro Petacchi came off the wheel of Iljo Keisse to guide Cavendish through the tricky corners, before Cavendish launched his trademark sprint to cross the line in first place.
The victory marked Cavendish's third in this year's race, and tenth over all the editions, making him the most prolific stage winner in the race. Sir Bradley Wiggins of Sky Procycling finished safely in the peloton, meaning he became the winner of the 2013 Tour of Britain, and the second British winner in a row, after Jonathan Tiernan-Locke took out the title last year.
Thankyou for joining me for a fantastic Tour of Britain, make sure you keep visiting Lanterne Rouge for coverage of the 2013 Florence World Championships!