Elia Viviani made it two wins from three in stunning style at the Tour of Britain, achieving Team Sky's 200th victory in the process.

Once again, Team Sky produced a near-perfect performance as the race neared its conclusion, with Ian Stannard proving instrumental in chasing a breakaway down before Viviani was guided into contention.

Peter Kennaugh, Wout Poels, Andy Fenn and Ben Swift didn't put a foot wrong on the fast run in to Kelso, and Viviani latched onto Sondre Holst Enger's wheel before rounding the IAM Cycling rider on the closing straight.

Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (Etixx - Quick-Step) pushed Viviani all the way to the line, but the Italian proved too strong for his rivals and wrapped up a landmark triumph by over a bike length.

With overnight leader Petr Vakoc (Etixx - Quick-Step) suffering an unfortunate crash in the last 4km, Poels moved up to fourth in the overall standings, where he sits 13 seconds behind new gold jersey holder Lobato.

The third stage saw the race cross from England to Scotland, with six riders forming a breakaway after a fast start in Cockermouth.

Their lead had stretched to almost seven minutes by the time they hit the first climb of the day, but Stannard joined forces with riders from Etixx - Quick-Step and Lotto Soudal to help bring that advantage back down.

The escape group was split in two on the descent of Wilton Hill, and Stannard continued to work tirelessly until they were brought back into the fold just seconds after Vakoc's crash.

Then it was all about the sprinters, and Viviani  once again proved unbeatable as he romped to his fifth win of the season.

After the stage, a delighted Viviani gave more detail on how events had played out. He said: "It was a long stage. We helped chase the breakaway down because it was a strong move and we felt with six riders per team it was going to be hard for just one team to control.

"On paper it looked like a good stage for me, but we didn't know how hard that last climb was going to be, so we controlled the pace all the way up it to make sure I was still in contact.

"Ian Stannard did so much work before the rest of the guys chipped in to give me an ideal lead out. The finish suited me, and even after 216km, my legs felt good. I started my sprint with 150m to go and when I went, I knew no-one would beat me. I'm really happy with this win.

“Today is more a tactical sprint than the first day because you need to understand when to go and don’t think one second more because you lose. I think this tactical sprint is my favourite I prefer this and maybe the distance helped me today. Sure you need a really strong team to stay in front and get a good position in a technical finish and we have a good team. Andy Fenn led me out in a perfect position and Pete Kennaugh and Ian Stannard did a really good job.

“When we saw 4:20 we thought we needed to go really fast on the last climb and we didn’t know if I would be able to hold on to the front group in the last climb. When you have your teammates working on the front you do everything to stay in the front group for the sprint. When I saw Cavendish wasn’t in our group and then I saw Greipel working for Debusschere I thought it was a good sprint for me and I could take this stage.

“I think it’s a good test for the Worlds. This climb fill gas with 20 to go is a really good signal for me.

“I think we always try to win every stage for a sprint. I am in really strong condition and I am happy for this. The team supported me with really good work. Tomorrow is another stage and I can win again so we are focused for this.”