Star Metro - Van Aert wins second Tour of Britain title

The Jumbo-Visma rider held onto his overnight advantage on the eighth and final stage to secure the title in an event he last won in 2021.

Organisers halted the stage for around half an hour after an accident on the route unrelated to the race.

One person was reportedly hurt and a section of the race over Bwlch mountain did not go ahead.

Ineos Grenadiers' Carlos Rodriguez won the eighth stage from Margam County Park to Caerphilly.

The Spaniard would have needed to recover a 39-second deficit to pip Van Aert to the title, but could only finish 11 seconds ahead of his rival.

Uno-X's Tobias Halland Johannessen finished second overall, with Australian Damien Howsen of Q36.5 third in the general classification.

New Zealand's James Fouche won the king of the mountains prize for the best climber.

"It feels great" Van Aert said. "We've had such an amazing week as a team, starting off with five stage wins in a row. It's pretty incredible.

"From then on it was a lot of pressure on us in this race, but we managed to control every stage, basically. So we're super proud, especially to finish off that teamwork.

"It was a super tough stage with the course this year. The weekend was really decisive and we went really all in."

Stage eight

1. Carlos Rodriguez (ESP/IGD) 3hr 52min, 43sec, 2. Wout van Aert (BEL/TJV) at 11sec, 3. Damien Howson (AUS/Q36), at same time, 4. Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR/UXT) s.t., 5. Magus Sheffield (USA/IGD) s.t.

Overall standings

1. Wout van Aert (BEL/TJV) 28hr 43min 57sec, 2. Tobias Halland Johannesen (NOR/UXT) at 3sec, 3. Damien Howson (AUS/Q36) at same time, 4. Magus Sheffield (USA/IGD) s.t., 5. Mark Donovan (GBR/Q36) at 23sec

S.Belanger--SMC