Wout van Aert denies Rasmus Tiller's Tour of Britain stage win due to 'overestimation' of course

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team's Rasmus Tiller (second from left) held off Stevie Williams in third place. Photo: PA/Bradley Collyer

Wout van Aert attacked three times in the final 30 kilometers of Saturday's seventh stage of the Tour of Britain, but Rasmus Tiller denied him the victory that would have made him champion-elect.

Race leader van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was caught 850m from the finish line near Gloucester Docks by the shortened peloton in his final attack as Tiller (Uno-X) — and Team GB's Stevie Williams — entered the scene. the team finished third.

Van Aert will now aim to claim the Tour of Britain title on the final 166km stage between Margam Country Park and Caerphilly, home to some of the toughest climbs in south Wales, on Sunday. .

“I overestimated the track a little,” Van Aert said on stage seven. “It was pretty tough in the final and there were some fast guys who could hang on. Tomorrow we will see an even smaller group [at the finish line].

“I thought attack was the best form of defense, so that’s what I did. Unfortunately, I isolated myself from the guys behind the wheel who weren't willing to cooperate—that was a small mistake.

RASMUS TILLER WINS STAGE SEVEN IN GLOUCESTER 🏆< br>
After catching @WoutvanAert with 800 meters to go, the @UnoXteam rider showed a great sprint to take the win! #TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/7P92KDeCfS

— Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 9, 2023

“My teammates have done an amazing job all week, so it's normal that we don't get any help from others. I'm still proud of them and hope they last one more day so I can repay them with a good win in the general classification.”

Tiller benefited from a good lead. his teammate Tobias Johannessen would take victory from a group of 13 who finished together.

“It's a really good feeling,” Tiller said. “We tried to [win] every stage here with the two sprinters we have in our team, but we knew today would be a different race with a smaller [advance] group. This suited me better. Tobias made a really good point and all I had to do was run for the win.»

«When Wout has a small lead, you know it's going to be hard to get it back. We had a good ride together and eventually caught him. Then Tobias made a good point, so I'm glad I had the strength to finish him off.»