Thomas is left to raise a glass to Tour victor Boom
Geraint Thomas won his weight in beer as best British rider, but Team Sky’s Welshman was powerless to prevent Lottonl-jumbo’s Lars Boom wrapping up overall victory in the OVO Energy Tour of Britain yesterday.
The final stage, from Worcester to Thomas’s home city of Cardiff, was won by Edvald Boasson Hagen, of Dimension Data, the Norwegian
Rouleur classic
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But Boom, who also won the race in 2011, was able to stay in the group that finished on the same time as the Norwegian and he took the overall honours. Boasson Hagen was second, eight seconds behind, and Stefan Kung (BMC) third.
Team Sky’s top rider was Michal Kwiatkowski, who was active on the final stage, claimed intermediate sprint bonus seconds to move up to fifth overall.
Thomas was seventh at 24 seconds and Owain Doull – also a native of Cardiff – ninth.
Boasson Hagen, who was delighted to get a win under his belt after victory on stage two was stripped from him for deviating from his racing line, said: “We had a plan for the day, which was if it came back to a bunch sprint I would attack in the last 3km, and I stayed with the plan,” he said.