Second consecutive top 10 for World Champion Julian Alaphilippe.
The race continued Monday afternoon with another hard day, to Exeter this time, the cathedral city which last hosted a stage finish in 2014. Just like seven years ago, a rider soloed to victory from the breakaway, after the peloton allowed the five-man group who attacked right after kilometer zero to build a seven-minute lead.
The parcours featured three classified climbs and several other short hills spread across the 184km stage that got underway from Sherford, a small town in Devon, and on paper the bunch shouldn’t have had any problems in controlling the escapees, but ended up finishing more than half a minute behind Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling), who took the win and the leader’s jersey. Julian Alaphilippe sprinted from the peloton and rolled over the line in fifth for Deceuninck – Quick-Step, a result that elevated him to seventh place on the general classification.
Tuesday should bring more changes to the Tour of Britain general classification, as the race schedules a challenging 18.2km team time trial. The hilly route will see the riders start from Ffairfach, pass through the Tywi Valley and conclude at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Photo credit: ©Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images
Julian Alaphilippe 