TEAM Sky’s Elia Viviani was awarded victory on stage two of the Tour of Britain after Edvald Boasson Hagen was stripped of his win in a controversial finish in Blyth.
Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data), beaten in a photo finish on day one, crossed the line in Blyth first yesterday but suffered more heartache as he was relegated for irregular sprinting.
Boasson Hagen had put on the leader’s green jersey on the podium before the decision was made.
Viviani had gestured to the Norwegian after crossing the line in second, feeling he had been impeded and – over 40 minutes after the stage finished – it was confirmed the Italian had won and taken the green jersey.
Boasson Hagen, a two-time Tour of Britain winner, had been released by lead-out man Mark Renshaw with just under 200 metres left of the 211 kilometres route and held off the challenge of Viviani and Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo).
But Viviani and Groenewegen both immediately appeared to complain that Boasson Hagen deviated from his line.
It was an explosive end to a day’s racing that had settled down quickly as a seven-man break formed early on after leaving Kielder Water and Forest Park.
Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) attacked solo from the break with 20km left as the riders passed Blyth for the first time.
The remnants of the break were soon caught but Holmes continued on his own until he too was swept up with under 14km to go.
Philippe Gilbert, a stage winner at all three grand tours in his career, tried his luck with a solo attack but with 5km to go it was all back together.
Boasson Hagen told Dimension Data’s website: “I know that I closed in Viviani but it wasn’t on purpose. I was just sprinting for the line with my head down and when I looked up I was too close on the left side with Viviani on my inside.
“It’s really a pity after all the hard work the guys did today. However, we will keep fighting.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here