Stevie Williams became the first Welshman to win the modern Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, completing his GC triumph on the sixth and final stage in Felixstowe. Williams, who secured two stage wins earlier in the week, crossed the line safely behind a chaotic sprint won by Matevž Govekar, sealing his overall win by 16 seconds.
The final stage, a fast and flat 158.4km route through Suffolk, was made more challenging by strong crosswinds that created havoc in the peloton. Multiple attacks came throughout the day, with Bahrain Victorious and Israel-Premier Tech leading the charge. Govekar, who had been close to victory earlier in the week, finally got his reward in Felixstowe, holding off Rasmus Pedersen and Ben Swift in a thrilling sprint finish.
Speaking after his victory, Govekar said, “It’s been a pretty aggressive week of racing. We came close in a few stages already, it’s been a super nice week of racing. I think the stage win shows the picture of a week of racing with the boys and I’m super happy with how they set up the final. I came from the back, with the tailwind I knew that I needed to start the sprint more to the front. I didn’t see how close it was but I did a strong sprint and I’m happy I managed to finish first.”
Williams, who had held the leader’s jersey since his second stage win in Barnsley, praised his team for their support throughout the week. “It doesn’t get much better than winning your home race. My name will always have this race underneath it. I’m really proud to have been part of this team this week – the riders and staff have been amazing. It has been a great week,” he said.
The stage saw plenty of action from the start, with early breakaway attempts gaining and losing ground before a group of 25 riders, including Williams, Oscar Onley, and Remco Evenepoel, broke free in the crosswinds. The race splintered repeatedly under the pressure of the winds, and a crash took out key riders like Paul Magnier and Tom Pidcock, leaving the reduced bunch to battle it out in the final kilometres.
Ben Swift, who finished third on the stage, took the Combativity award for his aggressive racing throughout the day. His teammate, Tom Donnenwirth, made the most of the intermediate sprints, securing his place on the final podium in third overall, behind Onley.
Onley, who had targeted the overall victory, was philosophical about his second-place finish and secured the best young rider’s classification as consolation. His teammate, Sean Flynn, finished 10th overall after an impressive ride in the final stage. Flynn explained, “Today with the strong winds we wanted to try something. Everyone committed and we caused some chaos in the crosswind sections which really split the peloton. In the end, we weren’t able to catch out Williams and move Oscar up, but we defended his second place on GC and are happy with how we rode.”
Photo Credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.comWilliams’ teammate, Ethan Vernon, who finished fourth in Felixstowe, took home the points jersey after a consistent week of strong sprints. Reflecting on his performance, Vernon said, “There are some good things to learn from this week. I set myself up for a good sprint today but I didn’t have the legs in the end. It wasn’t the way I wanted to win the points jersey with Magnier crashing out, but I’m really happy with Stevie’s result.”
Despite the challenging conditions, Israel-Premier Tech controlled the race expertly throughout the day. DS Sam Bewley praised his riders, saying, “The guys were brilliant again today. On paper it was a sprint stage but with the wind we knew it was dangerous. Once again the guys were all over it. It was a pleasure to watch this group race together and they always kept the race in our favour. We are stoked for Stevie and his teammates deserve a lot of credit for their work as well.”
With his win in the Tour of Britain, Williams capped off a remarkable year that has seen him win six races, including overall victories in the Arctic Race of Norway and the Tour Down Under.
2024 Tour of Britain Stage 6 result
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2024 Tour of Britain GC result
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Main photo credit: SWPix.com
