Jonathan Tiernan-Locke has won this year’s Tour of Britain making him the first Briton to win since South London's Chris Lillywhite won the Milk Race back in 1993.
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke celebrate an historic win in the 2012 Tour of Britain
SLIDESHOW
REPORT
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke added another chapter to a remarkable summer of success by British cyclists by winnin the 2012 edition of the Tour of Britian.
The Endura rider, who grabbed the lead with some impressive climbing on stage five, in Wales, led by 18 seconds going into Sunday's final stage. With the support of his well-drilled team, he crossed the line near the front of the main bunch to secure the overall victory.
Speaking to BBC Sport shortly after the race the 27 year old commented:
"It's fantastic, It has not really sunk in yet. It was a tough day, a lot tougher than we thought. So I feel relief more than anything."
Great Britain Podium athlete and current road world champion Mark Cavendish took the stage victory, his third stage win of the race. The team Sky athlete took it to a sprint finish across the cobbled streets of Guildford in Surrey.
The Manxman was led out perfectly once again by his Team Sky team-mates, with Berhnard Eisel, Christian Knees and Jeremy Hunt all taking huge turns on the front before Luke Rowe kicked on in the final kilometre.
When the Welshman pulled over on the cobbled drag to the finish line, Cavendish dug deep and celebrated Team Sky’s fourth victory in eight stages ahead of Boy van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas).
Rider Reaction - Stage 8 winner Mark Cavendish
Immediately after the stage, Cavendish told ITV4: "The victory feels very nice and the fans have been incredible. The amount of people on the road today was like the Olympic Games. That's been the same all week, come rain or shine.
"I thought people had forgotten about me a little bit - it's been all about sideburns this week (laughs) - but seeing the amount of people in Guildford, I just wanted to win.
"It was my last day in the rainbow jersey and I wanted to finish it off in style. The team rode really hard all day. Breaks were going left, right and centre, but they stayed with me and led me to the line. I'm really happy."
British riders Peter Williams and Kristian House won the sprint and king of the mountains jerseys respectively. Williams, who was part of a four-man break, won the stage's three intermediate sprints to pick up nine points and finish on a total of 45, almost double the amount scored by the second-placed rider, his Node 4 Giordana team-mate Marcin Bialoblocki.
KEY RESULTS (Full detailed results - pdf download from event website)
Stage
1 Mark Cavendish Sky Procycling 3:33:05
2 Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare @ same time
3 Fabio Sabatini Liquigas - Cannondale @ same time
4 Russell Downing Endura Racing @ same time
5 Cesare Benedetti Team NetApp @ same time
6 Yanto Barker UK Youth Cycling @ same time
7 Pieter Ghyllebert An Post Sean Kelly @ same time
8 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh - GAC @ same time
9 Niels Wytinck An Post Sean Kelly @ same time
10 Richard Lang Rapha Condor @ same time
11 Nathan Haas Garmin - Sharp @ same time
12 Paul Voss Endura Racing @ same time
13 Daniel Lloyd IG - Sigma Sport @ same time
14 Gediminas Bagdonas An Post @ same time
15 Simon Yates Great Britain @ same time
16 Adrian Saez de Arregui Euskaltel Euskadi @ same time
17 Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 - Giordana @ same time
18 Damiano Caruso Liquigas - Cannondale @ same time
19 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke Endura Racing @ same time
20 Bartosz Huzarski Team NetApp @ same time
Overall
1 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke Endura Racing 33:11:22
2 Nathan Haas Garmin - Sharp at 0:18
3 Damiano Caruso Liquigas - Cannondale at 0:23
4 Leigh Howard Orica - GreenEDGE at 1:02
5 Christopher Jones UnitedHealthcare at 1:12
6 Bartosz Huzarski Team NetApp at 2:01
7 David Lelay Saur Sojasun
8 Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare at 2:14
9 Christian Knees Sky Procycling at 2:35
10 Jerome Coppel Saur Sojasun at 4:30
11 Leopold Koenig Team NetApp at 4:52
12 David Clarke Node 4 - Giordana at 4:54
13 Paul Voss Endura Racing at 5:43
14 Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel Euskadi at 6:02
15 Pierre Cazaux Euskaltel Euskadi at 6:15
16 Josh Edmondson Great Britain
17 Jacek Morajko Vacansoleil at 6:20
18 Luke Rowe Sky Procycling at 7:13
19 Ivan Basso Liquigas - Cannondale at 7:33
20 Yannick Talabardon Saur Sojasun at 7:37
Points
1 Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare
2 Mark Cavendish Sky Procycling
3 Nathan Haas Garmin - Sharp
Mountains
1 Kristian House Rapha Condor
2 Pablo Urtasun Euskaltel Euskadi
3 Bernard Sulzberger Raleigh - GAC
Sprints
1 Peter Williams Node 4 - Giordana
2 Marcin Bialoblocki Node 4 - Giordana
3 Mathew Cronshaw Node 4 - Giordana
Team
1 Saur Sojasun
2 UnitedHealthcare
3 Team NetApp
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