Peter Kennaugh defended his road race title in stunning style at the British National Championships as Team Sky claimed three of the top four places.

Kennaugh helped thin out the field during the early exchanges, and then forged ahead with Ian Stannard on an undulating circuit around Lincoln.

Although the duo were hauled back by Luke Rowe and Mark Cavendish on the penultimate lap of the day, Kennaugh kicked again with Cavendish on his wheel on the final approach to the city centre.

The duo then went toe to toe on the cobbled Michaelgate climb, with Kennaugh emerging triumphant to become only the third rider in history to retain the famous white jersey. Cavendish held on for second place, five seconds adrift, with Stannard narrowly outsprinting Rowe for the final place on the podium.

After the race, Kennaugh admitted it had been one of the toughest races he’d ever been part of, but was delighted to have made it two wins from two.

He said: “From 3km in when we split it in the crosswinds, we were constantly on the pedals. On the climb we were doing two-minute efforts at full gas and it eventually caught up with us. My legs were starting to cramp on the last lap and fill with lactate, but I had to give it everything at the line.

“I didn’t think I’d won it until the last right-hand bend when I saw Cav wasn’t on my wheel. Up until then he’d been incredibly strong and hats off to him, I’m sure he’ll get this jersey again another year.

“Winning the race last year meant everything to me and it’s been a great 12 months. I couldn’t believe how quickly it came around again and I’m over the moon to be staying in the white jersey, with my white bike and white accessories. All that means a lot to me, and having the added pressure of wearing it in the pro peloton gives me that extra motivation to perform.”

As Kennaugh alluded to, the action was fast from the start and it didn’t take long for the first selection to be made with 30 riders racing off the front.

All four Team Sky representatives were among that group, and when Kennaugh split things up again on the second ascent of Michaelgate, Stannard and Rowe were among the five riders who followed.

When Stannard made another move one lap later, only Kennaugh went with him and Cavendish (Etixx – Quick-Step), Adam Blythe (Orica – GreenEdge) and Scott Thwaites (Bora - Argon 18) were unable to bridge over as Rowe initially sat on their wheels.

The duo’s lead looked to had been strengthened when Blythe and Thwaites fell off the pace in the last 50km, but Rowe and Cavendish dug deep to chase the leaders down as they approached the final lap of the day. 

A stalemate temporarily ensued as the quartet gathered their breath, but it all kicked off again when Kennaugh and Cavendish distancing their compatriots before battling it out for a hard-fought victory in front of a mammoth crowd.

Behind, Stannard and Rowe battled valiantly until the end, and after both had crossed the line 39 seconds down, Stannard reflected on a hard day at the office.

He said: “It was a tough day. We rode from the start as we wanted to break the race up as a team. That put pressure on us for the whole day. Michaelgate isn’t hard as a standalone climb, but going nine times up it burned the legs, and I had a tough sprint with Luke at the end.”

Sunday saw National Championships taking place right across Europe and Leopold König backed up his second place in Thursday’s Czech Republic time trial with another runners-up spot in the road race. Christian Knees then earned himself a sixth-placed finish in Germany after his top-five performance 72 hours earlier in the time trial, and Lars Petter Nordhaug sealed fourth place in Norway.