Tour of Britain

1. Leopold KONIG, Team NetApp, in 4:38:02 2. Jonathan TIERNAN-LOCKE, Endura Racing, at :1 3. Nathan HAAS, Garmin-Sharp, at :18 4. Damiano CARUSO, Liquigas-Cannondale, at :18 5. Luke ROWE, Sky, at :18

The Endura racing rider see's Garmin-Sharp's Nathan Haas as his main rival for the overall

The Tour de France champ will concentrate on his preparation for the world championships

1. Marc DE MAAR, UnitedHealthcare, in 3:30:27 2. Sep VANMARCKE, Garmin-Sharp, at :15 3. Boy VAN POPPEL, UnitedHealthcare, at :15 4. Nathan HAAS, Garmin-Sharp, at :15 5. Leigh HOWARD, Orica-GreenEdge, at :15

1. Mark CAVENDISH, Sky, in 3:51:33 2. Steele VON HOFF, Garmin-Sharp, at 0 3. Leigh HOWARD, Orica-GreenEdge, at 0 4. Boy VAN POPPEL, UnitedHealthcare, at 0 5. Daniel SCHORN, Team NetApp, at 0

Daniel Lloyd previews stage 4 of the 2012 Tour of Britain

1. Mark CAVENDISH, Sky, in 3:54:31 2. Leigh HOWARD, Orica-GreenEdge, at 0 3. Aidis KRUOPIS, Orica-GreenEdge, at 0 4. Luke ROWE, Sky, at 0 5. Sam BENNETT, An Post-Sean Kelly, at 0

American suffers head injury, under evaluation by team medical staff

1. Leigh HOWARD, Orica-GreenEdge, in 4:31:09 2. Mark CAVENDISH, Sky, at 0 3. Boy VAN POPPEL, UnitedHealthcare, at 0 4. Steele VON HOFF, Garmin-Sharp, at 0 5. Russell DOWNING, Endura Racing, at 0

The world champ got caught up in a crash in the finale

Daniel Lloyd previews stage 1 of the 2012 Tour of Britain and details the race for seconds

• 1. Mark Cavendish, (GBR) HTC-Highroad, in 1:59:13
• 2. Mark RENSHAW, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 0
• 3. Robert FöRSTER, (GER) Unitedhealthcare, at 0
• 4. Geraint THOMAS, (GBR) Team Sky, at 0
• 5. Ben SWIFT, (GBR) Team Sky, at 0

• 1. Lars Boom, (NED) Rabobank Cycling Team, in 3:19:02
• 2. Alexandre PICHOT, (FRA) Europcar, at s.t.
• 3. Leopold KONIG, (CZE) Team Netapp, at s.t.
• 4. Jan BARTA, (CZE) Team Netapp, at s.t.
• 5. Stephen CUMMINGS, (GBR) Team Sky, at s.t.

Mark Renshaw briefly stepped out of the shadow of HTC-Highroad teammmate Mark Cavendish to win the fifth stage of the Tour of Britain on Thursday.

The Tour of Britain resumed Tuesday after its unscheduled day off with Lars Boom winning the third stage and taking the leader's gold jersey from Mark Cavendish.

• 1. Lars BOOM, (NED) Rabobank Cycling Team, in 3:23:42
• 2. Michael MATTHEWS, (AUS) Rabobank Cycling Team, at 0
• 3. Geraint THOMAS, (GBR) Team Sky, at 0
• 4. Stephen CUMMINGS, (GBR) Team Sky, at 0
• 5. Mark Cavendish, (GBR) HTC-Highroad, at 0

LONDON (AFP) — The Tour of Britain second stage was canceled Monday for safety reasons due to high winds in the north west of the country.

Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) made a winning start to the Tour of Britain with a classy sprint victory in the opening stage in Scotland on Sunday.

• 1. Mark Cavendish, (GBR) HTC-Highroad, in 4:41:06
• 2. Mark RENSHAW, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 0
• 3. Theo BOS, (NED) Rabobank Cycling Team, at 0
• 4. Barry MARKUS, (NED) Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 0
• 5. Geraint THOMAS, (GBR) Team Sky, at 0

Mark Cavendish makes a long-awaited return to the Tour of Britain on Sunday, determined to make his mark on the event after a four-year absence.

HTC-Columbia scored the double in the Tour of Britain Sunday as its Michael Albasini wrapped up overall victory and teammate Andre Greipel coasted to first place in the eighth and final stage.

• 1. André GREIPEL, (GER) HTC-Columbia, in 1:57:07
• 2. Lucas Sebastian HAEDO, (ARG) Team Saxo Bank, at s.t.
• 3. Roger HAMMOND, (GBR) Cervélo TestTeam, at s.t.
• 4. Greg HENDERSON, (NZL) Team Sky, at s.t.
• 5. Borut BOZIC, (SLO) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, at s.t.

• 1. Borut Bozic (Slo), Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, 3:24:15
• 2. Greg Henderson (Nzl), Team Sky, same time
• 3. Richie Porte (Aus), Team Saxo Bank, at 0:03
• 4. Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita), ISD-Neri, at 0:03
• 5. Koen De Kort (Ned), Skil-Shimano, at 0:03

Borut Bozic trims his deficit to race leader Michael Albasini with one stage remaining.

• 1. André Greipel (Ger), HTC-Columbia, 4:09:05
• 2. Borut Bozic (Slo), Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, s.t.
• 3. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
• 4. Greg Henderson (Nzl), Team Sky, s.t.
• 5. Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita), ISD-Neri, s.t.

HTC-Columbia takes the stage and defends the overall with two stages remaining.

• 1. Marco Frapporti (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 4:16:10
• 2. Bradley Wiggins (Gbr), Team Sky, at 0:13
• 3. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg), Team Saxo Bank, at 0:32
• 4. Iker Camano Ortuzar (Esp), Endura Racing, at 0:32
• 5. Michal Golas (Pol), Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, at 0:32

Marco Frapporti drops Daniel Martin in a late break and solos in for the win.

• 1. Michael ALBASINI, (SUI) HTC-Columbia, in 3:40:37
• 2. Ian BIBBY, (GBR), at 8
• 3. Stijn NEIRYNCK, (BEL) Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator, at 8
• 4. Cameron MEYER, (AUS) Garmin-Transitions, at 21
• 5. Mark MCNALLY, (GBR) AN Post-Sean Kelly Team, at 28

The HTC-Columbia rider is the third overall leader in as many stages.

Stage 2

• 1. Greg Henderson (Nzl), Team Sky, 3:59:52
• 2. Michael Albasini (Sui), HTC-Columbia, same time
• 3. Heinrich Haussler (Aus), Cervélo TestTeam, s.t.
• 4. Koen De Kort (Ned), Skil-Shimano, s.t.
• 5. Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger), ISD-Neri, s.t.

Team Sky rules the front and sends Henderson off in the finale for the stage win and overall lead.

The HTC-Columbia sprinter flats, gets a wheel from Marco Pinotti and takes the victory.

This week's Tour of Britain features a star-studded field and a more challenging route than previous editions. Steve Thomas handicaps the favorites.

Catching up with Garmin-Transitions team riders, and brothers, Cameron and Travis Meyer. Both are finding their transition from track to road is going better — and faster — than expected.

Provisional start list for the Sept. 11-18 stage race.

The 2010 Tour of Britain will visit several regions of Britain it has never visited during what the organizers say is its hardest route in the last seven years.

The Tour of Britain is a UCI Category 2.1 stage race.

Evald Boasson Hagen secured his overall victory in the Tour of Britain Saturday, safely finishing in the peloton at the end of the final stage in London. Barloworld's Michele Merlo win the final field sprint of the race, followed by Koldo Fernandez (Euskatel Euskadi) and Chris Sutton (Garmin-Slipstream). Sutton, who won one stage of the race, finished second overall, 23 seconds behind Boasson Hagen, who won four stages.

Ben Swift (Katusha) took a hugely popular first professional win in Friday's seventh stage to become the first British stage winner in the Tour of Britain since Paul Manning in 2007. The Katusha rider sprinted to victory ahead of teammate Filippo Pozzato, with race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) in third. Boasson Hagen extended his overall lead ahead of Rabobank’s Kai Reus to 23 seconds and retained points jersey.

Columbia-HTC's Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed a fourth successive stage win to stretch his lead in the Tour of Britain standings to 19 seconds with two stages left to race. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish at the end of the 183.7-km sixth stage in England's west country and he will now expect to hold off second-placed Kai Reus over the course of Friday's penultimate stage and the 92.5-km race to the finish in London on Saturday. Boasson Hagen hit the front at 300 meters to go and nobody was able to pass him. Martin Reimer was second and Russell Downing was third.

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed a third successive stage win to move into the overall lead of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish ahead of Italian Filippo Pozzato and Britain's Russell Downing to claim his sixth Tour of Britain stage victory in two seasons. He now leads Dutch rider Kai Reus by nine seconds. In third place is Australia's Chris Sutton, who believes his hopes of winning the Tour may have gone as a result of Garmin-Slipstream teammate Bradley Wiggins' decision to quit the race.

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen of Columbia-HTC won a second consecutive stage in the Tour of Britain Tuesday to move within one second of overall race leader, Kai Reus of Rabobank. "We're close now and so we have to try and win overall," said Columbia team coach Valerio Piva. "Edvald is on form, we've got a strong team here, and so why not? We've done it before." Australia's Chris Sutton also moved within striking distance of the overall lead with his fourth consecutive top three finish in the 148-km circuit stage around the Forest of Bowland.

Australia's Darren Lapthorne (Rapha Condor) saw his bid for glory falter as a fast-finishing Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the third stage of the Tour of Britain on Monday. Lapthorne was part of a four-man breakaway that dominated the 153km Scottish border stage between Peebles and Gretna Green but was caught with 15km from the finish.

Australia's Chris Sutton surrendered the yellow jersey at the end of the second stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday but still insisted his weekend could not have gone any better. The Garmin-Slipstream rider followed-up his first stage win with ninth place on day two from Darlington to Gateshead as Dutchman Kai Reus (Rabobank), a former junior world champion, won his first stage since a 2007 crash that left him in a coma. Reus' comfortable nine-second margin of victory was enough to earn him yellow and Sydney's Sutton admitted his opening exploits in York had taken their toll.

Australia's Chris Sutton (Garmin-Slipstream) sealed the biggest win of his career by claiming the first stage of the Tour of Britain with a sprint finish victory in York on Saturday. Sutton, the nephew of British track cycling coach Shane Sutton, held off Barloworld's Michel Merlo and home riders Ben Swift and Russell Downing following a 172km stage from Scunthorpe to Newcastlegateshead. And he paid tribute to Garmin teammate Bradley Wiggins, fourth in the Tour de France earlier this year, for his stellar lead-out efforts.

Agritubel's Geoffroy Lequarte said winning the Tour of Britain couldn't have come at a better time as far as the forthcoming world championships are concerned. Finishing in the main field on the final stage 110-kilometer stage between Blackpool and Liverpool in north-west England, Lequarte - who started Sunday with a six-second advantage over the field - had done enough to take the Tour of Britain title. LPR's Alesandro Petachi won the stage while Australia's Matthew Goss, the second-stage winner, took the points title.

Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes) grabbed his second stage win of the Tour of Britain in Gateshead, England, on Friday while France's Geoffroy Lequatre retained the leader's yellow jersey. Rob Hayles (British National) just missed out on catching Petacchi on the line after a sprint finish to the sixth stage while stage four and five winner Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Columbia was a place further back. Lequatre, who rides for Agritubel, retained the yellow jersey for the third successive day with home hope Steve Cummings second in the overall standings.

Columbia’s Edvald Boasson Hagen took his second consecutive stage win of this year’s Tour of Britain with a late surge 700 meters before the finish line in Dalby Forest, holding off breakaway companions Matt Goss (CSC-Saxo Bank) and Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes-Ballan) as the field closed in. The Norwegian had earlier showed his excellent time-trialing skills by bridging a 12-second gap from the peloton to join three other breakaway riders as the race paced through Beverley.

A challenging uphill final stretch made for an exciting stage finish to day four of the Tour of Britain, as Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) came from behind to beat breakaway companion Giairo Ermeti (LPR Brakes - Ballan) on the line in Stoke-on-Trent. Race leader Emilien Berges punctured with around 7k to go, losing over a minute and dropping to ninth place overall. Teammate Geoffroy Lequatre inherited the yellow jersey going into Thursday's stage in Yorkshire. Ben Swift won all of the day’s three E.ON King of the Mountains climbs to overtake Kristian

Emilien Berges (Agritubel) won the third stage of the Tour of Britain on Tuesday, taking the overall leader's yellow jersey from Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes-Ballan). Berges broke away from eight other escapees on the flat run into Burnham, crossing the line just ahead of his teammate Geoffroy Lequarte. Italian Gabriele Bosisio (LPR Brakes-Ballan) finished third.

Australia's Matthew Goss (CSC-Saxo Bank) won the second stage of the Tour of Britain after outsprinting the field on Monday. Goss avoided the chaos caused by a collision towards the end of the stage in Newbury, south-west of London, and finished just ahead of the Garmin-Chipotle duo of Julian Dean and Chris Sutton. Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes), who won the first stage in London, retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after a sixth-place finish.

Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes-Ballan) opened The Tour of Britain on Sunday with an exciting sprint finish in the shadow of Big Ben, holding off Rob Hayles (Great Britain) and Magnus Backstedt (Garmin-Chipotle) to take victory in London. The rain relented long enough to allow the peloton to attack the 10-lap, 86km circuit in relatively dry conditions in front of an estimated crowd of more than 100,000.

LPR Brakes to make Tour of Britain debut in 2008 Di Luca and Petacchi to lead Italian squad’s assault on this year’s Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain organisers are pleased to announce the identity of the 16th team who will ride the 2008 race, Italian squad LPR Brakes – Ballan, led by Alessandro Petacchi and Danilo Di Luca. Petacchi is one of the greatest sprinters ever, having won over 150 races in his career, while Di Luca will become the first winner of a Grand Tour to ride The Tour of Britain, following his win in the Giro d’Italia in 2007.

Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) began his bid to win the Tour of Britain in style with a powerful finish to take the first stage on Monday in Southampton. Cavendish, who held the yellow jersey after the prologue, stormed away in the sprint finish after good work by teammates Roger Hammond and Frantisek Rabon had given him an ideal platform. The 22-year-old from the Isle of Man blew away Steven Caethoven and Juan Jose Haedo in the final 200 meters to clinch his 10th stage win of the season. and take a 14-second lead over Russia's Nikolai Trusov. Holland's Piet Rooijakkers, who took the

COURSE: Stage 1 begins at the prologue finish line on The Mall with a processional opening that crisscrosses the River Thames on its way past St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, before heading east out of the metropolis. The start will be given at exactly 11 a.m. (noon in France) at the prime meridian in Greenwich. The rolling course passes the 1000-year-old Rochester Castle and loops through the county of Kent via Tunbridge Wells to Canterbury, where the finish is on a wide highway within sight of the historic cathedral. HISTORY: The last time the race was in England, in 1994,

Martin Pedersen (CSC) won the Tour of Britain on Sunday, while Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) won an 82km finale marred by a collision involving two motorcycles accompanying the riders. Boonen won the final stage in 2 hours, 41 seconds. Pedersen finished in the main pack with the same time to claim the overall victory ahead of Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) and Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step-Innergetic). Authorities said five people -- including the motorcyclists -- were hurt in the crash on The Mall in central London. Injuries included head wounds and fractured ankles. No further details

QuickStep's Francesco Chicchi won a farcical fifth stage of the Tour of Britain from Rochester to Canterbury on Saturday. Italian rider Chicchi edged T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish into second place, while Aart Vierhouten of Skil-Shimano finished third. But it was the chaotic start to the Kent stage that dominated the day as the entire peloton was accidentally sent in the wrong direction during the neutral zone. It is thought the police escort leading the riders had taken the wrong route and the stage was halted for 20 minutes while riders and race officials tried to determine the

Filippo Pozzato (Quick Step-Innergetic) won the rain-soaked third stage of the Tour of Britain from Bradford to Sheffield on Thursday. The Italian rider crossed the finish line 32 seconds ahead of Michael Rogers (T-Mobile), with defending champion Nick Nuyens (Quick Step-Innergetic) third. Road race world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) crashed late in the stage and finished well off the pace. Overnight leader Matt Goss of SA.com dropped out of contention after suffering a knee injury. The Australian rider was replaced in the overall lead by Denmark's Martin Pedersen (CSC),

Australian Matthew Goss (SA.com) took the yellow jersey after the second stage of the Tour of Britain from Blackpool to Liverpool, won by Britain's Roger Hammond on Wednesday. The 32-year-old won the stage from Holland's Aart Vierhouten, while Russell Downing (DFL) was third. Road race world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) was 16th. In the overall standings, Goss was two seconds ahead of first stage winner Martin Pedersen (CSC) after picking up time bonuses from intermediate sprints. Spaniard Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) was in third place and only eight seconds

Martin Pedersen (CSC) took the yellow jersey with a dramatic sprint-finish victory in the first stage of the Tour of Britain on Tuesday. The Danish rider was part of a three-man breakaway with Australian Mathew Goss (SA.com) and Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) and the trio engaged in a thrilling battle for first place in the 162km stage from Glasgow Green to Castle Douglas. Pedersen eventually finished two seconds ahead of Goss, while Spaniard Pasamontes was five seconds off the lead in third place. Defending champ Nick Nuyens (Quick Step-Innergetic) finished 15th in a large peloton that also

Two reigning world cycling champions will be among the attractions when the six-day Tour of Britain makes its way from Glasgow, Scotland, to the Mall in London starting Tuesday. Belgian star Tom Boonen, the road race world champion, will lead a Quick Step-Innergetic team that has its eye on defending the overall victory they secured for Nick Nuyens last year on the race's second year in existence. Despite the staging of the three-week Vuelta a España, the Belgian outfit has sent a strong team that should have enthusiasts turning out in their droves along the race's 870km route,

Fresh off winning Tuesday’s rainy stage into Soria in the 59th Vuelta a España, Alejandro Valverde said he will leave the troubled Valenciana-Kelme team if it’s not included in next year’s UCI Pro Tour. “I still don’t know what I am doing. I still have three years of contract with Valenciana-Kelme and in principal I have to continue with them,” Valverde told the Spanish daily AS. “The team has asked for a racing license to be in the Pro Tour but it appears it’s not sure they’re going to get it. And if I am going to be among the best then it’s obvious that I have to go.” Several teams have

Levi Leipheimer has signed a two-year contract to join the German squad Gerolsteiner for the 2005-06 seasons. After two top-10 finishes in three Tour de France starts, the 30-year-old American will join rising star Georg Totschnig as team leader going into the ProTour inaugural next season. “This is a major coup,” said team manager Hans Michael Holczer on the team’s web page. “We’ll have a strong reinforcement for the grand tours, secondly he will be able to share leadership duties with Totschnig and finally his strong experience can help young riders on our team.” Leipheimer couldn’t be

Italian star Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) and Spanish rider Carlos Golbano (Paternina-Costa de Almería) won’t be starting the Vuelta a España on Saturday after UCI blood tests conducted Wednesday evening revealed the pair “unfit” to start. The 189 starting riders in the Vuelta, which starts Saturday with a team time trial in León in northern Spain, were given blood screening to test levels of hemotacrit, hemoglobin and reticulocytes. While not considered a positive doping test, inconsistent indicators can suggest, but not prove, the use of EPO, Nesp or other banned blood boosters. Vuelta

Stefano Zanini (Quick Step) team has won the 128-mile opening stageof the Tour of Britain in Manchester city centre. The Italian out-sprintedKevin Van Impe of Belgium and Alejandro Borrajo of Argentina. British national champion Roger Hammond, of Oxford, finished sixthin the same time as Zanini. By winning the first stage Zanini pulled onthe race leader's jersey which he will wear during tomorrow's stage fromLeeds to Sheffield over 107 miles.Navigators are thereThe Navigators will be racing this week in the revival of the BritishTour that began Wednesday and concludes with a circuit course in

While the route of the 2004 Vuelta a España will be officially unveiled Wednesday in Madrid, route details are popping up everywhere in the Spanish media. The latest tease is that the course will skip the feared Angliru climb in northern Spain as well as the demanding Pyrénées and instead hit six summit finishes in central and southern Spain, including a climbing time trial up the grinding 35km climb up to the Sierra Nevada ski station in southern Spain. Details released in the Spanish daily AS reveal that a difficult mountain stage on the penultimate day will feature five climbs in the