Wales’ Stevie Williams wins Tour of Britain title

Wales’ Stevie Williams became the first home winner of the Tour of Britain since 2016 after safely finishing in the pack on Sunday’s final stage.

Matevz Govekar of Slovenia took stage honours on the sixth and last day after producing a perfectly-timed sprint finish but it was Williams who celebrated overall victory on the Suffolk coast.

The 28-year-old has led the classification since winning stage two in Redcar on Wednesday and he held off all challengers to became the first British winner of the event since Steve Cummings eight years ago. Fellow Briton Oscar Onley was second with France’s Tom Donnenwirth completing the podium.

Israel-Premier Tech rider Williams started the last day with a 16-second lead over closest rival Onley and kept pace with the Scot as they both finished behind the bunch sprint that concluded an exciting final day’s racing from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.

Following a strong lead-out by Jake Stewart, 24-year-old Govekar pipped Danish champion Rasmus Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Britain’s Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) to the line to claim the spoils in a time of three hours, 22 minutes and 18 seconds.

Earlier on Sunday, there was a disappointing end for Frenchman Paul Magnier, whose hopes of a fourth stage win of this year’s event were ruined by a crash which forced him to abandon the race.