Olympic road race champion Remco Evenepoel won stage five of the Tour of Britain as Romain Gregoire held on to a narrow overall lead to set up a thrilling final stage in Wales on Sunday.
Former world champion Evenpoel hit the front just over 300m from the line on the second and final ascent of the challenging Tumble climb in south Wales and out-sprinted Britain’s Thomas Gloag, with fellow Briton Oscar Onley coming third.
Evenpoel heads into the final day of the race just two seconds behind France’s Romain Gregoire in the race for the general classification, with 2018 champion Julian Alaphilippe in third.
“I think the first time we climbed we wanted to see how we went and then the last three kilometres the wind was blowing quite hard in our face so I knew we would have to wait for the sprint,” Evenpoel said.
“I know that after a tough day and a hard climb I still had a good sprint [in me] so I just focused on that.”
Evenpoel is racing for the first time since a combination of illness and injury forced him to drop out of the Tour de France in July.
He added: “Tomorrow I need to try and go for it [the leader’s green jersey]. It is going to be tricky, I would really love to go and get a win after a long period out of competition.”
Sunday’s sixth and final stage takes place over 112.2km between Newport and the Welsh capital Cardiff.
The race will depart from the Geraint Thomas Velodrome on what will be the last day of his career as a rider, which will come to an end when the Welsh former Tour de France champion crosses the line in his home city.
Thomas says he has held discussions over staying on at Team Ineos, suggesting he is being lined up to join the management structure, rather than taking on a more hands on role with riders as a sporting director.
