Van Aert mugs Hayter at Tour of Britain, Ireland's Healy shines | Video | Sticky Bottle

*Wout van Aert takes stage 8 victory into Aberdeen. He also took the 10-second time bonus to take the overall victory from race leader Ethan Hayter (Photo: SWpix.com)*

Wout Van Aert has put in a storming sprint on the final stage of the Tour of Britain to win again and also seal the overall victory, on a day when Irish champion Ben Healy animated the race off the front.

André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) was 2^nd
on the stage today and looked for a few fleeting moments like he may win in the
bunch sprint to the line, though Van Aert had more staying power.

Mark Cavendish had to be content with 3^rd
after his Deceuninck-QuickStep worked to bring back the early breakaway and to
lead him out; the British rider’s sprint still looking a long way off what it
was at the Tour de France.

Rory Townsend (Canyon dhb SunGod) got right into the mix in the big finish and he took 6^th. That was the Irish international’s third top six in stages on this race, during which he also made the stage 6 breakaway.

*Thomas Gloag leads his Trinity Racing team mate, and Irish champion, Ben Healy in the stage 8 breakaway today at the Tour of Britain (Photo: SWpix.com)*

While Jumbo Visma’s Van Aert won the final stage today, race leader Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) did not prove as capable in what was a pure sprinters’ finish and was not in the top 10. That meant he missed out on a stage placing and a time bonus.

The young British rider got a little boxed in in the final 400 metres but also looked like he did not have the legs to contend with the fastest men today.

Van Aert only trailed Hayter by four seconds starting today’s
stage 8 – some 173km from Stonehaven to Aberdeen – and the Belgian
national champion took a 10-second time bonus for his win today.

That meant he took the final leader’s jersey of the race. He only lost that race lead to Hayter at the end of stage 2 when a crash split the front of the bunch, holding up Van Aert as Hayter took 2^nd on the stage and a vital time bonus.

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Today Irish champion Ben Healy was in the
day-long breakaway, with his Trinity Racing team mate Thomas Gloag and others.
They were only caught with 5km to go.

Healy, who turned 21-years-old yesterday, rode a brilliant stage and looked the strongest of the breakaway as the finish neared. He was the last of the escapees to be caught, with stage 2 winner Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling).

Overall, Van Aert took the Tour of Britain 2021 title by six seconds from Hayter. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was 3^rd at 27 seconds; the world champion on lead-out duties today for team mate Cavendish.

Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation)
completed the final stage race of his career today. He finished in the bunch
and that meant no change for him in the overall; ending the race 7^th
at 1:16. There was also no change for Nicolas Roche, with the Team DSM rider
finishing 13^th overall at 2:08.

More to come.