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• Young Dutchman overhauls Matteo Trentin• Van der Poel has 1sec lead going into Wirral section
Since the Tour of Britain had left Glasgow the question had been not whether Mathieu van der Poel would strike but when and where. In Kirkcudbright, Kelso and Newcastle, he had been slightly out of position in each of the mass sprints, but Beast Banks in Kendal was the steepest finish so far and, outside the tiny post office that inspired the creation of Postman Pat, the Dutch prodigy finally delivered to snatch the stage win and the race lead.
A select lead group of about 40 hit the bottom of the 500m climb out of the centre of Kendal on the coat-tails of a three-rider escape including Yorkshire’s James Shaw, overhauled them as they passed the mint cake factory, and almost immediately Van der Poel launched his effort at the 300m to go mark. “It was a bit of a gamble,” he said afterwards, “because I didn’t know where the finish was, but I got bumped a bit yesterday [in Newcastle] and I didn’t want that to happen again.” Continue reading...