Tour of Britain: Kooij beats Merlier to win stage three

Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) won the sprint in the third stage of the Tour of Britain Men, overtaking his great rival Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) in the final metres to take his first victory in this edition of the race.

Merlier, winner of yesterday's second stage, had to settle for second place in Beverley, in what essentially turned into a two-man sprint, with the two sprinters literally outpacing the rest of the peloton. Axel Källberg (Lucky Sport Cycling Team) rounded out the podium, finishing third.

Before the grand finale, however, the stage offered thrilling moments thanks to a courageous solo attack by Yorben Lauryssen (Tarteletto-Isorex), who launched himself 48 km from the finish. The Belgian came close to achieving the feat, holding out at the front of the peloton until the fast teams caught him 6.5 km from the finish line, thus putting an end to his dream of a surprise victory that would have delighted those who had selected him as an outsider in their teams.

The final kilometer was chaotic, with the teams battling to organize their sprint trains. Soudal-QuickStep seemed to have the best sprinter around, but Kooij once again demonstrated his winning instincts: starting from an awkward position, stuck between the wheels, he managed to find the right opening to overtake the Belgian right at the last minute.

In the general classification Lewis Askey maintains the lead with 12 seconds over Tim Wellens and 19 over Matteo Trentin.