Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 6: Trentin wins, Boasson Hagen second to extend lead

Edvald Boasson Hagen of MTN-Qhubeka this afternon secured what could be race-winning 12 seconds to extend his lead in the Aviva Tour of Britain as he finished second to Etixx-Quick Step rider Matteo Trentin in Notttingham this afternoon.

The Norwegian, winner of the race in 2009, held a 1 second advantage over Team Sky's Wouter Poels on the General Classification at the start of today's 193.7 kilometre Stage 6 from Stoke-on-Trent.

He had been one of the chief protagonists of what turned out to be a frantic stage, and with a little more than 3 kilometres remaining attacked out of the group pursuing Trentin, the last survivor of the day's break.

While he missed out to the Italian in the sprint, the gap back to the group containing Poels means he stretches his advantage to 13 seconds - and with two stages remaining that are likely to end in sprint finishes, in Ipswich tomorrow and London on Sunday, he is in pole position to win the race for a second time.

Trentin's victory was overshadowed by Mark Cavendish having to abandon the race after an early crash, and Etixx-Quick Step have said that they will provide an update on his condition this evening.