Olav Kooij became only the second rider in modern Tour of Britain history to claim three-consecutive stage victories after completing his hat-trick in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, on Tuesday.
Featured image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Report
On another day of blue skies and late summer sun, the stage looked set to follow the usual formula of a small doomed break given a small advantage before being reeled in for a bunch sprint, as a three-man breakaway had formed. Instigated by Nicolas Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), he was quickly joined by Pinarello king of the mountains leader James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and TDT-Unibet’s Harry Tanfield.
The three breakaway riders went into the base of the first categorised climb at Towthorpe Lane with three minutes on the chasing peloton. Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) took maximum points there, and over the top of the second hill at Langtoft, to further extend his lead in the mountains classification.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 3: Google to Beverley (154.7km) – Nicolas Sessler of Team Global 6 Cycling, Harry Tanfield of Team TDT Unibet Cycling, James Fouche of Team Bolton Equities Black Spoke (Wearing the Pinarello King of the Mountains Jersey) in the breakaway. Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
As the riders entered the seaside town of Bridlington, the trio’s advantage was just 30 seconds, but they stayed clear long enough for Tanfield to roll through the cottages.com sprint at Skipsea first. Fouché decided his day was done at this point; he sat up and was the first to be caught by the peloton with 42 kilometres remaining.
But far from that being the start of a regulation final hour of racing, it was actually where the stage took on a whole new life. Saint Piran tried their hand with a pre-planned attack as Alex Richardson, Jack Rootkin-Gray and Harry Birchill attempted to time trial their way ahead of the bunch. The trio quickly bridged to the Harry Tanfield (TDT – Unibet Cycling Team) and Nico Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), the remainder of the day’s three-man breakaway. This forced Jumbo–Visma into using the energy of Tour de France podium finisher Steven Kruijswijk and Jos van Emden to pull the trio back.
Saint Piran’s audacious, but ultimately unsuccessful, move seemed to get everyone’s tails up. INEOS Grenadiers sent Ben Turner and then Luke Rowe on the attack approximately 25 kilometres out from the finish. After those bids failed, Connor Swift made his move and was joined by eight riders, including reigning champion Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar Team), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo–Visma), Nils Politt (BORA–hansgrohe), and British duo Matthew Bostock and Jacob Scott (Bolton Equities Black Spoke)
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 3: Google to Beverley (154.7km) – Nils Politt of Team Bora Hansgrohe and Matt Bostock of Team Bolton Equities Black Spoke in the breakaway. Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
German rider Politt, who narrowly missed out on winning in Mansfield during the 2018 race, split the breakaway alongside Bostock as the race passed through Long Riston. The pair held a 30-second gap until Jumbo–Visma, TRINITY Racing, and Movistar Team took up control at the head of the peloton and chased them back.
Bostock’s resistance was last to be broken, but once he was reeled in with six kilometres remaining, the outcome of the stage seemed all but inevitable.
Former Tour of Britain stage winner Edoardo Affini peeled off on the long drag up to Beverley Racecourse, before super domestique Wout van Aert placed Kooij in to a perfect position with 300 metres to go.
Kooij’s compatriot Danny van Poppel (BORA–hansgrohe) at one point looked like he’d take the victory for the Netherlands, but couldn’t quite find the second burst to do so. Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon took his best result of the race with third behind van Poppel.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 3: Google to Beverley (154.7km) – Olav Kooij of Team Jumbo Visma (Wearing the Leaders Jersey) Wins Stage 3 of the 2023 Tour of Britain in Beverley with Danny Van Poppel of Team Bora Hansgrohe in second and Ethan Vernon of Team Great Britain in third. Image: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
Victory further extends Kooij’s lead in the cottages.com points classification, and he also continues to top the Sportive Breaks best young rider standings.
Kooij said: “It’s pretty special to win three stages in a row. You never get used to winning so it was nice to do so again. After the last two days we knew it was up to us to control. We tried to split it once we hit the coast but the wind wasn’t strong enough and then we had a really tough job bringing back the final couple of guys. But, in the end, we managed to make it a hat-trick.”
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Saint Piran attempted to stage a coup as the trio of Richardson, Rootkin-Gray and Birchill surprised the peloton with a three-up breakaway move. All three riders have been in excellent form domestically this year, and have form when it comes to pulling off audacious and dominant race tactics. The move was short-lived and unsuccessful but it was refreshing to see a team try something different before a section of crosswinds that threatened briefly to split the bunch apart.
Ethan Vernon bagged his best result yet today. When his teammate dropped him onto Kooij’s wheel with just a few hundred metres to go Vernon looked in prime position. He ceded the wheel, however, as van Poppel muscled in but then held his ground assertively when Movistar’s Max Kanter tried to do the same. A podium result on stage 3 bodes well with more sprint opportunities expected to come.
Matt Bostock is an excellent sprinter on his day but has been hampered from reaching his best form this season after suffering with concussion following a crash at Nokere Koerse. He looked alert and lively today, however, the only rider able to match Politt’s searing accelerations in the late stage break. Hopefully this is a sign that last year’s national circuit race champion is back to near his best.
Olav Kooij became only the second rider in modern Tour of Britain history to claim three-consecutive stage victories after completing his hat-trick in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, on Tuesday.
Featured image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Report
On another day of blue skies and late summer sun, the stage looked set to follow the usual formula of a small doomed break given a small advantage before being reeled in for a bunch sprint, as a three-man breakaway had formed. Instigated by Nicolas Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), he was quickly joined by Pinarello king of the mountains leader James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and TDT-Unibet’s Harry Tanfield.
The three breakaway riders went into the base of the first categorised climb at Towthorpe Lane with three minutes on the chasing peloton. Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) took maximum points there, and over the top of the second hill at Langtoft, to further extend his lead in the mountains classification.
As the riders entered the seaside town of Bridlington, the trio’s advantage was just 30 seconds, but they stayed clear long enough for Tanfield to roll through the cottages.com sprint at Skipsea first. Fouché decided his day was done at this point; he sat up and was the first to be caught by the peloton with 42 kilometres remaining.
But far from that being the start of a regulation final hour of racing, it was actually where the stage took on a whole new life. Saint Piran tried their hand with a pre-planned attack as Alex Richardson, Jack Rootkin-Gray and Harry Birchill attempted to time trial their way ahead of the bunch. The trio quickly bridged to the Harry Tanfield (TDT – Unibet Cycling Team) and Nico Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), the remainder of the day’s three-man breakaway. This forced Jumbo–Visma into using the energy of Tour de France podium finisher Steven Kruijswijk and Jos van Emden to pull the trio back.
Saint Piran’s audacious, but ultimately unsuccessful, move seemed to get everyone’s tails up. INEOS Grenadiers sent Ben Turner and then Luke Rowe on the attack approximately 25 kilometres out from the finish. After those bids failed, Connor Swift made his move and was joined by eight riders, including reigning champion Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar Team), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo–Visma), Nils Politt (BORA–hansgrohe), and British duo Matthew Bostock and Jacob Scott (Bolton Equities Black Spoke)
German rider Politt, who narrowly missed out on winning in Mansfield during the 2018 race, split the breakaway alongside Bostock as the race passed through Long Riston. The pair held a 30-second gap until Jumbo–Visma, TRINITY Racing, and Movistar Team took up control at the head of the peloton and chased them back.
Bostock’s resistance was last to be broken, but once he was reeled in with six kilometres remaining, the outcome of the stage seemed all but inevitable.
Former Tour of Britain stage winner Edoardo Affini peeled off on the long drag up to Beverley Racecourse, before super domestique Wout van Aert placed Kooij in to a perfect position with 300 metres to go.
Kooij’s compatriot Danny van Poppel (BORA–hansgrohe) at one point looked like he’d take the victory for the Netherlands, but couldn’t quite find the second burst to do so. Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon took his best result of the race with third behind van Poppel.
Victory further extends Kooij’s lead in the cottages.com points classification, and he also continues to top the Sportive Breaks best young rider standings.
Kooij said: “It’s pretty special to win three stages in a row. You never get used to winning so it was nice to do so again. After the last two days we knew it was up to us to control. We tried to split it once we hit the coast but the wind wasn’t strong enough and then we had a really tough job bringing back the final couple of guys. But, in the end, we managed to make it a hat-trick.”
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