Danny van Poppel (Bora-hansgrohe) may have gone closer to winning today's stage 3 at Tour of Britain but there was no stopping the Jumbo Visma duo of Olav Kooij and Wout van Aert who combined to make it three wins from three.
Van Aert even hit the front a little too early as he led out his young Dutch team mate into the town of Beverley but he still had the legs to keep his effort going, with Kooij coming off his wheel and finishing off the effort with victory.
Van Poppel, who was also 2nd yesterday, took the runner-up spot again today but he pushed the stage winner closer and may have the beating of him by the time the race ends on Sunday. Sam Bennett, who is usually led out by Van Poppel, did not feature in the final sprint today.
Advertisement
The Irishman finished 78th today, at 1:46, and has slipped from 3rd overall this morning, on the same time was race leader Kooij, to 78th at 1:46. It was unclear if Bennett had a mechanical issue, or some other problem, in the final today though it looked like he was with his team mates until deep in the final.
Related News
Rory Townsend (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) placed 9th, his second top 10 of the race, after 154.7km of racing. Tomorrow's stage 4 is another flat one and may proven an opportunity for both Townsend and Bennett as the riders race 166.6km from Sherwood Forest to Newark-on-Trent.
As the opening three stages have ended in a bunch sprint, with no time bonuses on offer, there are 56 riders on the same time as race leader Kooij, the 21-year-old now on 11 wins for the season so far.
