Today’s Tour of Britain marathon stage covering 227 kilometers from Fakenham to Ipswich put the entire peloton to the test. With his overall podium spot to defend, Cult Energy Pro Cycling's Rasmus Guldhammer was especially on his toes to stay in the front and he managed to nail another top-10 result.
First, a front group trio including Gabriel Cullaigh (GBR), Graham Briggs (JLT) and Alex Dowsett (MOV) took some time in the sun but the distance of this seventh and penultimate stage took its toll on the escapees. Going under the 20 kilometer banner, it was game over for the front trio but new attacks went flying from the bunch and Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick Step) launched a promising counter-move.
However, the Cult Energy Pro Cycling riders immediately went to the front of the pack to reel him in and from that point, the sprint teams took control of the finale and after 227 kilometers of racing, it all came down to a bunch gallop where Cult Energy’s Rasmus Guldhammer was 7th and defended his third position.
Tomorrow’s final stage in London won’t be an easy one:
“It’s not going to be a tourist cruise in the streets of London tomorrow. There are quite a few bonus seconds on offer and my guess is that most of the top-10 riders will be fighting for seconds in the intermediate sprints and I think Rasmus is going to sprint himself in order to retain a spot on the overall podium. Naturally, we’ll support him in every way possible so we can leave here with a podium place in the pocket,” says DS Luke Roberts after the stage.
The stage was won by André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal).
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