Nils Politt won the final stage of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men with a solo attack in Earlston as UAE Team Emirates-XRG completed a dominant final afternoon by securing the overall victory with Tim Wellens.
Politt attacked from an eight-rider front group with just over seven kilometres remaining and used his time-trialling power to stay clear through the final circuit. Florian Vermeersch completed a UAE one-two 12 seconds later, while Filippo Ganna took third at 18 seconds ahead of Benoît Cosnefroy.
Wellens finished eighth at 21 seconds and secured the overall title by 42 seconds from Lewis Askey. Jasper Stuyven moved into third overall at 1:03 as a stage that UAE had initially planned to control defensively instead became another opportunity to split the race apart.
Ben Swift honoured before his final Tour of Britain stage
The final stage started and finished in Earlston, with 156.1 kilometres through the Scottish Borders and 2,236 metres of climbing before two laps of a 19-kilometre finishing circuit.
Before racing began, the peloton formed a guard of honour for Ben Swift. The Netcompany INEOS rider is retiring at the end of the 2026 season, bringing down the curtain on a professional career that has stretched across 18 seasons.
Once the race was released, the early break formed around Michal Schuran, Ben Wiggins, Jonah Killy and Marcus Sander Hansen.
Schuran had a clear objective. The Czech rider started the day leading the King of the Mountains competition and needed points from the three categorised climbs to make the jersey secure.
The quartet established enough of an advantage to reach the Lammermuir Hills in front, giving Schuran the opportunity he needed.
Schuran completes his mountains campaign
Schuran took maximum points on Redstone Rig and then did the same on Duddy Bank. Those results made his lead in the mountains classification insurmountable as long as he completed the stage.
The more important development for the overall race was taking place behind.
Netcompany INEOS increased the pressure around the exposed roads approaching Duddy Bank, looking to use the crosswinds and climbing to disturb UAE’s control. That was enough to change the character of the stage.
Wellens had begun the afternoon with a 21-second advantage over Askey after taking the leader’s jersey on stage 4 in the Yorkshire Dales. UAE had no need to attack. Their first job was simply to keep Wellens out of trouble.
“When INEOS started to ride very hard, we just followed,” Wellens said afterwards. “We didn’t want to attack, we didn’t want to make a hard race, we just wanted to ride defensive.”
Following quickly became something more.
UAE moved five riders towards the front and the pressure immediately opened gaps across the peloton.
UAE turn defence into an attack
The race continued to split between Duddy Bank and Hardens Hill.
By the final categorised climb, the original break was being caught and a much stronger front group was taking shape. Politt, Wellens, Vermeersch, Cosnefroy and Mikkel Bjerg were all there for UAE, giving the race leader five riders in a small selection.
Ganna and Connor Swift represented Netcompany INEOS, while Wiggins and Sander Hansen survived from the day’s original escape.
Cosnefroy collected the maximum mountains points on Hardens Hill ahead of his teammates as UAE’s strength became increasingly obvious.
The stage 5 preview had left open the possibility of a regrouping before Earlston, because almost 40 kilometres remained after the first passage of the finish and the hardest climbing came well before the line.
The pace at the front made that difficult.
The sprinters were gone, Askey was chasing and UAE had five riders available to maintain the separation. Instead of waiting for Olav Kooij and Tim Merlier to return, the final stage had become a small-group race.
Ganna collects the bonus seconds
Ganna had lost his chance to challenge for the overall victory when a puncture coincided with the decisive crosswind split on stage 2 to Skegness, but the Italian still had targets on the final afternoon.
He won the first intermediate sprint at Gordon and then repeated the result when the leaders crossed the line in Earlston for the first time.
The two sprints gave Ganna six bonus seconds and 20 points towards the points classification, enough for him to eventually take that competition.
They did not solve his bigger tactical problem.
With five UAE riders in the leading group, Ganna could not cover every attack himself. Wellens no longer needed time and his teammates were free to race for the stage.
That gave UAE several ways to win.
Politt uses UAE’s numbers with seven kilometres remaining
The attacks began on the final circuit.
Politt made the move that mattered with just over seven kilometres remaining, accelerating away from a group where the numerical advantage meant UAE could leave the responsibility for the chase to everybody else.
Wiggins initially tried to follow, but Politt’s pace proved too strong.
The German quickly established a gap and was around half a minute clear before the chasers began to reduce his advantage. Behind, UAE could cover rather than contribute, while Ganna and the remaining riders had to decide how much energy to spend closing one move with several other UAE riders waiting to counter.
Politt did not need much encouragement.
Once he reached the final kilometres alone, the terrain suited him perfectly. The 2026 German time-trial champion stayed low over the bike and kept enough of his advantage to enter Earlston on his own.
He crossed the line in 3:33:28 and pointed towards the sky in memory of his grandfather, who had died a few weeks earlier.
“I have to thank the boys for an amazing week and amazing day for me,” Politt said. “This victory is for my grandpa, he passed away some weeks ago so I need to give him something. It was a team effort and it was a victory for the team today.”
Vermeersch completes the UAE one-two
Vermeersch finished second at 12 seconds, completing a UAE one-two after surviving the counter-attacks behind his teammate.
Ganna won the sprint for third at 18 seconds, with Cosnefroy taking fourth and Sander Hansen fifth on the same time. Wiggins finished sixth after spending almost the entire day at the front, earning the stage combativity award.
Bjerg was seventh, followed by Wellens at 21 seconds. Rick Pluimers finished ninth at 40 seconds, with Artem Shmidt completing the top 10.
Five UAE riders finished inside the first eight.
For a team that had started the final stage primarily concerned with protecting Wellens, the result showed how completely the race situation had swung in their favour once INEOS helped force the selection.
Wellens converts his Yorkshire attack into overall victory
Wellens’ winning move in the general classification had come 24 hours earlier.
He started stage 4 from Helmsley to Leyburn 12 seconds behind Askey but finished the afternoon in the race lead after escaping with Cees Bol. The Decathlon CMA CGM rider took the stage victory, while Wellens gained enough time to carry a 21-second advantage into Scotland.
Stage 5 doubled it.
Wellens finished the race in 19:35:32, with Askey second at 42 seconds. The British rider had led since his Michaelgate victory on the opening stage in Lincoln and still completed the race as the highest-placed British rider.
Stuyven benefited from the final day’s splits to move into third at 1:03, level on time with Daan Hoole in fourth. Pluimers and Elliot Rowe were fifth and sixth at 1:15, with Ganna recovering to seventh at 2:03.
Vermeersch finished eighth overall, ahead of Mark Donovan and Wiggins.
“It was a very successful week,” Wellens said. “We came here for the GC. And today we also have this stage victory, so everything’s been perfect.”
Ganna and Schuran complete the classification winners
The final stage also settled the remaining secondary classifications.
Ganna’s work at the two intermediate sprints moved him to the top of the points competition. Schuran completed the stage to confirm the King of the Mountains jersey and also took the overall combativity prize after repeatedly making the breakaway during the race.
Rowe finished sixth overall and won the young rider classification after a strong week with the Great Britain team. Wiggins received the final stage combativity award, while UAE Team Emirates-XRG unsurprisingly finished as the best team.
Five stages produced five different winners. Askey opened the race on Michaelgate, Tim Merlier won the stage 2 sprint in Skegness, Kooij answered in Beverley on stage 3, Bol survived the Yorkshire Dales and Politt finished the race with a solo victory in Scotland.
The overall contest, however, belonged to Wellens and a UAE team that spent the final two stages turning its numbers into control of the race.
Lloyds Tour of Britain Men 2026 stage 5 result
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Lloyds Tour of Britain Men 2026 GC result
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Main photo credit: Getty
