Alexander Serov (Tinkoff) attacked breakaway companion Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) on today's stage of the Tour of Britain to create a stunning solo win on the tough uphill finish in Kendal.
Earlier in the stage, Serov and Cavendish had broken free of a ten-man group that had struck out from the bunch only three miles from the start in Liverpool. In the closing miles of the race, Serov proved too strong for Cavendish on the hills, leaving the T-Mobile man to the mercy of the chasing bunch.
By the time Cavendish crossed the finish line, Serov had gained 1-43 and the bunch, lead by Romain Feillu (Agritubel), came in only two seconds after the Manxman in a gripping finale to the day's racing.
Mark Cavendish pulled on the sprints jersey
Cavendish accrued enough hot spot sprint points en route to grab the Sprints jersey. Fellow Brit Ben Swift retained the King of the Mountains jersey for another day.
In the overall standings, yesterday's stage winner Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias) did enough to keep the yellow jersey, but with only one second's advantage over second placed David Blanco (Duja Tavira) and only three seconds ahead of Feillu. Feillu is by far the best sprinter of the top trio, which means it will all come down to tomorrow's final stage from Dumfries to Glasgow to decide the winner.
TOUR OF BRITAIN: STAGE FIVE RESULTS
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1 Alexander Serov (Tinkoff) 170km in 4-00-53
2 Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) at 1-43
3 Romain Feillu (Agritubel) at 1-45
4 Frantisek Rabon (T- Mobile) at 1-47
5 Martin Garrido (Duja Tavira) at same time
6 Evert Verbist (Chocolade Jacques) at 1-49
7 Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias)
8 Luke Roberts (CSC)
9 Nikolai Trusov (Tinkoff)
10 John Bellis (Great Britain) all at same time.
OVERALL AFTER STAGE FIVE
1 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias in 17-50-12
2 David Blanco (Spa) Duja Tavira at 1sec
3 Romain Feillu (Agritubel) at 3secs
4 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC at 8secs
5 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja Tavira at 12secs
6 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano at 13secs
7 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS at 17secs
8 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano at same time
9 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS at 18secs
10 David Munoz Banon (Esp) Fuerteventura-Canarias at 21secs
...
15 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed at 1-07
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