Paul Magnier claimed his third stage victory of the 2024 Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain in a thrilling finish to stage five around West Northamptonshire. The young Frenchman outsprinted his rivals after a 149.6km stage, further cementing his dominance in this year’s race. Magnier crossed the line ahead of Uno-X Mobility’s Erlend Blikra, with Ethan Vernon coming third in front of his home crowd.
The day began with fast-paced action as the peloton departed from the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus. Several attacks followed immediately, with TRINITY Racing leading the charge. It was Connor Swift who made the first successful break, going solo before being joined by Danish champion Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen and Matt Holmes. The trio worked well together, building a 30-second advantage over the peloton.
As the race neared the first categorised climb at Newnham Hill, Swift and Holmes continued to push the pace. Holmes took the points at the summit, followed by Swift and Pedersen. Behind them, the peloton was not far behind, with Julian Alaphilippe attempting a move to bridge across, though he was quickly reeled back in.
The breakaway maintained a similar lead over the second and final categorised climb at Bullshill. Holmes once again crested the climb first, with Swift and Pedersen following close behind. With the peloton now two minutes behind, the breakaway’s hopes of staying away grew, but the main bunch, controlled by Soudal Quick-Step and Israel – Premier Tech, kept them in check.
At the intermediate sprint in Holcot, Holmes took more points ahead of Swift and Pedersen. However, with 15km to go, the peloton began to ramp up the pace, with Remco Evenepoel taking charge at the front, cutting the gap significantly. By the time they reached the final 3km, the breakaway’s lead had been reduced to just 18 seconds.
A crash in the peloton saw several Soudal Quick-Step riders caught out, but Alaphilippe remained at the front, guiding Magnier into position for the final sprint. At the flamme rouge, the breakaway was finally caught, and Magnier launched his sprint on Derngate, pulling clear of his rivals to secure a commanding victory.
“It was really hard to catch the break,” said Magnier after the race. “Remco [Evenepoel] did everything, he’s a super-fast rider as you know. Julian [Alaphilippe] brought me to the front, and I saved a lot of energy there. In the end, I did my best sprint for the victory.”
Despite their strong effort, the breakaway riders were ultimately caught just in time, with Swift earning the day’s combativity award. “We needed 1min 30sec going into the final 20km, and we needed some energy, so we took the middle of the stage easy to make sure we could go full gas at the end,” Swift explained. “It was disappointing to come so close, all three of us were super strong.”
In the general classification, Stevie Williams retained his 16-second lead over best young rider Oscar Onley as the race heads into its final stage from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.
2024 Tour of Britain Stage 5 result
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Main photo credit: SWPix.com
