Tour of Britain: Wout van Aert snatches overall victory from Great Britain's Ethan Hayter in dramatic sprint finish
Belgian rider Wout van Aert claimed overall victory in the Tour of Britain after winning a dramatic sprint finish on the final stage; he pipped Great Britain and Ineos Grenadiers' rider Ethan Hayter, who claimed silver
By PA Media
Last Updated: 12/09/21 4:08pm
Wout van Aert won a dramatic sprint finish to the final stage of the Tour of Britain to snatch overall victory from Ethan Hayter.
Van Aert had the power to come around both Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel on the seafront in Aberdeen, and with Hayter getting boxed in, the bonus seconds gave the Belgian the overall win by six seconds from the Ineos Grenadiers rider.
Jumbo-Visma rider van Aert raised an arm in celebration as he crossed the line, before looking back to see where Hayter was.
Had the Londoner finished second he would have held blue, launching a second celebration when he realised his fourth stage win of the week had earned overall success too.
The peloton made hard work of chasing back a six-strong breakaway on the 173km stage from Stonehaven, but finally reeled them in with four kilometres left.
Hayter held a four-second lead overnight but, as Cavendish and Greipel lit up the sprint battle early, he found himself out of position as van Aert powered away.
"It's a bit disappointing to lose it on the last day but I can be very happy with this week, the team time trial win and the stage in Manchester," said the 22-year-old, an Olympic silver medallist on the track in Tokyo before winning his first major road stage race in Norway last month.
"To be second overall between van Aert and (world champion Julian) Alaphilippe is pretty good."
