Dowsett takes Tour de l'Avenir lead

Alex Dowsett

Britain's Alex Dowsett has taken the overall lead in the Tour de l'Avenir in France after former leader Taylor Phinney suffered a heavy fall.

Dowsett (Great Britain) was second overall behind leader Phinney (USA) going into the third day of the under-23s event. Phinney crashed in the final 20km of the stage as a result of the wet, slippery conditions allowing former Trek-Livestrong team-mate Dowsett to take the helm in the overall classification.

Escapee Anthony Delaplace (France) won the 150.5km stage from Saint-Amand-Montrond to Cusset, with Bert Jan Lindeman (Netherlands) in second and Romain Hardy (France) in third.

Prologue winner Phinney managed to finish the stage some 19 minutes behind winner Delaplace and was promptly taken to hospital for examination. 

The eight-day Tour de l'Avenir is open to under-23 riders and runs from Sunday, September 5, to Sunday, September 12. Past winners include Greg Lemond (1982), Olaf Ludwig (1983), Charly Mottet (1984), Denis Menchov (2001), Sylvain Calzati (2004) and Lars Bak (2005). 

Tour de l'Avenir 2010: Related links

Stage one: Phinney retains lead

Prologue: Phinney pips Dowsett in Tour de l'Avenir prologue

British fields strong Tour de l'Avenir squad

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.