Great Britain?s Paul Manning gave the Tour of Britain a true British ending with an impressive solo victory in Glasgow. Manning was part of the decisive five-rider break and then jumped clear of his rival in the final kilometre, using his pursuiting speed to hold of the chasers to win by seven seconds.
Italy?s Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff Credit Systems) was second, with Kurt Hovelijnck (Chocolade Jacques) third. Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) continued to dominate the bunch sprints, bringing home the peloton to take fifth place. He also secured victory in the points competition and the hot spot sprints competition. Ben Swift (Barloworld) sealed overall victory in the climber?s competition to make it a great week for British riders in their home national Tour.
FEILLU WINS OVERALL
France?s Romain Feillu (Agritubel) lost the point?s jersey to Cavendish by finishing 20th in Glasgow but snatched overall victory by winning the first intermediate sprint at Drumlanrig Castle.
The three-second time bonus put him on equal time with Spain?s Adrian Palomares but Feillu pulled on the final yellow jersey because he had a lower hundredths of a second in the Crystal Palace prologue time trial. Australia?s Luke Roberts (CSC) finished third overall at six seconds. Scotland?s Evan Oliphant (DFL) was best British rider overall in 16th place, 1-12 behind Feillu.
"Being just three seconds behind I knew it was possible to win and when I won the first intermediate sprint I knew I'd got it," Feillu said.
"It's never easy to control a race but my team rode well. This is my first stage race win and so it's the biggest win of my career. Now I hope I can get a place in the French team for the world championships."
TOUR OF BRITAIN 2007: STAGE SIX
1 Paul Manning (Great Britain) in 3-31-04
2 Salvatore Commesso,Salvatore (Tinkoff) at 7secs
3 Kurt Hovelijnck (Chocolade Jacques) at same time
FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
1 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel in 21-21-33
2 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias at same time
3 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC at 6secs
4 Martin Garrido (Spa) Duja Tavira at 12secs
5 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano at 13secs
6 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS at 17secs
7 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano at same time
8 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS at 18secs
9 David Munoz Banon (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias at 21secs
10 David Blanco Rodriguez (Spa) Duja Tavira at 24secs
...
16 Evan Oliphant (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed at 1-12
FINAL POINTS CLASSIFICATION
1 Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) 46pts
2 Romain Feillu (Agritubel) 45
3 Luke Roberts (CSC) 38
FINAL E.ON KING OF THE MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION
1 Ben Swift (Barloworld) 32pts
2 Paul Manning (Great Britain) 28
3 Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias) 20
FINAL SPRINTS CLASSIFICATION
1 Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) 22pts
2 Zakkari Dempster (South Australia.com-AIS) 20
3 Piet Rooijakkers (Skil-Shimano) 16
RELATED LINKS
Click here to view a gallery of photos from Tour of Britain stage five
Stage five: Serov in solo victory
Click here to view a gallery of photos from Tour of Britain stage four
Stage four: Palomares adds to palmares
Tour of Britain Yorkshire stage neutralised
Click here to see a gallery of photos from Tour of Britain stage three
Stage three: Goss wins in Wolverhampton
Cavendish angry with British riders after losing ToB yellow jersey
Tour of Britain: Trusov takes stage two
Cavendish celebrates tenth win in Southampton
Stage one: Cavendish wins again
Click here to view a gallery of photos from the Tour of Britain prologue
Cavendish: Surprised by prologue win
Cavendish wins Tour of Britain prologue
Tour of Britain 2007 preview
Official site: www.tourofbritain.co.uk.
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