Boy Van Poppel delighted after the Tour of Britain overall lead
Boy van Poppel of Team UnitedHealthcare thanked his teammates for their continuous support during the ongoing Tour of Britain that earned him the gold jersey.
The cyclist was only four seconds behind the race leader, Luke Rowe of Team Sky Procycling, at the third position.
Rony Martias of Team Saur-Sojasun was holding the third position but brilliant support by his side helped Poppel in claiming the first overall position after the stage 2 classifications.
He rode brilliantly during the stage 2 of the British stage race and was looking good to claim an overall victory but could not match the likes of Leigh Howard and Mark Cavendish.
The Dutch finished third during the second stage of the race behind with Howard and Cavendish securing the second and the third positions respectively.
"The team helped me... saving my energy during the day, and they brought me into an ideal position to the sprint,” san van Poppel
“I managed to take 3rd today, which was enough to secure the overall lead. I'm happy about the result and happy to have earned this for my teammates".
Team UnitedHealthcare Director Hendrik Redant was delighted with the team’s performance and cited that his side worked as unit and their efforts were ultimately rewarded.
“The boys were working well for van Poppel and kept him in the front of the race so he could preserve his power for the sprint," he explained.
"Robert Förster took Boy to the front of the group in the final hectometers of the race, enabling Boy to sprint in ideal circumstances".
It was the fifth podium finish for the Dutch this year including, Singapore's****. Criterium, Driedaagse van De Panne, Nokere Koerse and Volta a Portugal.
Top ten cyclists after the stage Tour of Britain stage 2 classifications are as under:
1
Boy Van Poppel (Ned) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
9:22:04
2
Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge Cycling Team
3
Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling
0:00:01
4
Rony Martias (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
0:00:04
5
Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
6
Russell Downing (GBr) Endura Racing
0:00:06
7
Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
0:00:10
8
Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Garmin-Sharp
9
Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
10
Peter Hawkins (Irl) IG - Sigma Sport
0:00:11
Tags: