Wout Poels moved into the top five after going on the attack on the second stage of the Tour of Britain, but the day belonged to Petr Vakoc who escaped to a brave victory in Colne.

Poels had jumped ahead with Vakoc and six other riders on the approach to the final categorised climb, and picked up a bonus second in the intermediate sprint in Clitheroe before Vakoc made his stage-winning move.

When the Czech champion slipped clear moments after the sprint, Poels was absorbed back into the bunch, but held on to finish in a 30-man group who crossed the line nine seconds behind the day's winner.

Peter Kennaugh led Team Sky home in 11th position, with Poels clocking the same time as his team-mate to trail the new gold jersey holder Vakoc by 18 seconds.

The sun shone down during the second day of action and the Nick'o'Pendle had already been crested when Peter Williams (One Pro Cycling) and Alex Dowsett (Movistar) eventually moved up the road. All the time, Team Sky were monitoring the situation, with Kennaugh, Ian Stannard and Andy Fenn all taking big turns at the head of the peloton.

When it became clear that Team Sky weren't letting Dowsett away, he dropped back to the bunch, and Williams was also swept up on the ascent of Bleara Moor.

Elia Viviani was distanced on that category-one climb, but Poels worked his way into a fresh move with 2016 signing Alex Peters (Great Britain) before the next ascent of Pendle Hill. Poels topped that climb in first position, and bagged his bonus second by finishing third on the concluding intermediate sprint.

No sooner had that been contested when Vakoc pressed ahead on his own, and although IAM Cycling, Lotto Soudal and Tinkoff Saxo all mounted determined chases, the Etixx – Quick-Step rider rebuffed their advances and held on for his third win of the season.

Back on the team bus, Sports Director Servais Knaven revealed that Kennaugh had been given a 20-second time penalty before giving his thoughts on a tough and testing stage. He told TeamSky.com:

"We just found out about Pete's penalty now and don't know yet exactly what it was for. Once we get that confirmed, we will decide what action to take.

"Pete thinks it could be for taking an energy gel in the last 20km, and while that is technically breaking the rules, the narrow, twisty roads made it almost impossible for us to feed the riders. We'll abide by whatever the organisers say though.

"In terms of the racing, it was a really hard day and we controlled everything well before Wout got in the escape group. Then we could sit back and let the others do the chasing. We would have had four guys in the peloton at the end, but Swifty just dropped back on that drag to the finish and Ian picked up a puncture. Vakoc rode really hard and deserved his win.

"The day proved too hilly for Elia, and while he tried everything he could to stay in the leader's jersey, it wasn't to be. He's in good form, but this never looked like a day for the sprinters. Andre Greipel dug really deep to stay there almost until the end, and that effort might mean he is more tired than Elia later in the week.

"Tomorrow is another long stage and it has another tricky final. A breakaway could make it to the finish if the move is right, because time gaps have opened up now on the GC. It's not our responsibility to chase any more, but there's still plenty of time of Wout and Pete to gain time when the moment is right."