TOUR OF BRITAIN: BOONEN WINS ON THE MALL, PEDERSEN TAKES OVERALL

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the final sprint on the Mall on Sunday to give a perfect ending to the Tour of Britain.

Thanks to a powerful lead out from his Quick Step teammates, Boonen blasted down the Mall to beat Roger Hammond (Great Britain) and Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile).

Denmark?s Martin Pedersen (CSC) won the six-day race. He was part of the three-rider break that gained almost three minutes on stage one and went on to win by 51 seconds in London. Spain?s Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) was second and Italy?s Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step) was third at 2-11.

The final stage was marred by an accident on the finishing circuit. Two motorbikes collided entering the deviation and five people were taken to hospital. Fortunately none of them were seriously injured.

The accident came after a series of safety problems that lead to the riders protesting during Saturday?s stage. They were particularly angry about the finish in Sheffield and general road safety. The final stage around central London was covered at a procession pace because of numerous cars stopped on both sides of the road.

Tom Boonen?s win on the Mall was a great way to end the race but the safety of the riders has to be improved if the Tour of Britain is to survive.