Jon Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) became the first British rider to win the Tour Méditerranéen after taking victory in today's snow-affected final stage.
The Brit started the day third overall, but his hopes of overhauling Garmin-Barracuda's Michel Kreder at the top of the standings appeared to have been dealt a blow when the planned summit finish on Mont Faron was abandoned because of the inclement weather.
Nonetheless, the 27-year-old from Devon attacked in the run in on the Col des Gardes to take his second stage win in the race and clinch the overall victory.
Previously, Tiernan-Locke's best ever performance was a fifth in last year's Tour of Britain. It was there he showed off his climbing prowess as he went on to win the King of the Mountains classification.
Despite reported interested from a number of WorldTour teams, Tiernan-Locke made the switch from Rapha-Condor-Sharp to Endura Racing for 2012; the Tour of the Med was his first race in his new colours.
Results
Tour Méditerranéen, stage four: Toulon-Col du Corps de Garde, 87km
1. Jon Tiernan-Locke (GBr) Endura Racing
2. Daniel Navarro (Spa) Saxo Bank at 17 secs
3. Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua e Sapone at same time
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4. Angel Mardrazo (Spa) Movistar at 22 secs
5. Nicki Sorensen (Den) Saxo Bank at 27 secs
6. Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
7. Julien El Fares (Fra) Team Type 1
8. Romain Hardy (Fra) Bretagne-Schuller
9. Thibault Pinot (Fra) FDJ-BigMat
10. Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar at same time
Final overall classification
1. Jon Tiernan-Locke (GBr) Endura Racing
2. Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda at 27 secs
3. Daniel Navarro (Spa) Saxo Bank at 31 secs
4. Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone at 33 secs
5. Angel Madrazo (Spa) Movistar at 42 secs
6. Romain Hardy (Fra) Bretagne-Schuller at 47 secs
7. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana
8. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
9. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale
10. Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar at same time
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke wins Tour Méditerranéen
Related links
Tiernan-Locke takes Tour of the Med opener
Tiernan-Locke loses Tour of the Med lead to Hutarovich
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Nick Bull is an NCTJ qualified journalist who has written for a range of titles, as well as being a freelance writer at Beat Media Group, which provides reports for the PA Media wire which is circulated to the likes of the BBC and Eurosport. His work at Cycling Weekly predominantly dealt with professional cycling, and he now holds a role as PR & Digital Manager at SweetSpot Group, which organises the Tour of Britain.
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