Van der Poel rules Britain

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Highly-rated Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel underlined his dominance of the Tour of Britain by winning the eighth and final stage on Saturday to seal his overall victory.

The 24-year-old — the junior world road race champion in 2013 — won his second successive stage edging out compatriot Cees Bol in a sprint finish at the end of the 166 kilometers ride from Altrincham to Manchester.

Italian Matteo Trentin, who finished runner-up overall 17 seconds adrift of van der Poel but by way of consolation won the points jersey, finished third in the stage.

Van der Poel, whose family is cycling royalty with his father Adri having been crowned world champion in 1996 and his grandfather Raymond Poulidor three-times a Tour de France runner-up, said his overall win surprised him.

“Coming into the Tour of Britain I did not really think that winning the race was possible because of the time trial as I had not done one in a really long time,” said van der Poel, who won the Amstel Gold race earlier this year.

“After the time trial I started to believe I could win overall but today was harder than I thought it would be.”