Tour of Britain Stage 8b: Sure enough, Boom takes overall but Cavendish makes his own sonic explosion for the stage

Dutchman Lars Boom of the Rabobank team was never under threat in the second instalment of today's London finale of the 2011 Tour of Britain, finishing safely in the pack to cement his overall leader's position 36 seconds ahead of Team Sky's Steve Cummings.

Boom had already come second in the morning 'a' stage, a time trial where he conceded a mere five seconds to British tt specialist Alex Dowsett and confirming that his General Classification position was the result of supremacy in all disciplines rather than playing it safe. 

The 90km criterium 'b' stage consisting of 10 laps of a prestigious and camera-friendly Westminster circuit was the expected feisty affair with both points and time bonuses up for grabs on laps 2, 4 and 6 but it was World's Best Sprinter Mark Cavendish that fired the afterburners for a not-unexpected final-stage win. His team mate and loyal lieutenant Mark Renshaw took second, surely the last time these two will be seen in the same HTC kit.

Tour of Britain Crit Race 18 sept 2011 from tom on Vimeo.

Although they weren't threatening the GC, first from the countdown Ronan McLaughlin of An Post - Sean Kelly and then Kristian House of neigbourhood team Rapha-Condor-Sharp worked together like Trojans to keep away 30 seconds ahead of the peloton for nine of the laps but the rain came down with determination to match the pursuing Rabobank and HTC teams for the final circuit and the effort came to naught but for glory.

British hopes now rest in Cavendish having found this the ideal week of race preparation in readiness for next weekend's World Championships in Copenhagen. It certainly won't be for lack of a quality team behind him, Great Britain having qualified to field the maximum of eight riders including Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and last week's GB Vuelta star Chris Froome.

Top 20 Tour of Britain Stage 8b

1    1 GBR Mark Cavendish     HTC Highroad THR                 1:59:13
2    6 AUS Mark Renshaw       HTC Highroad THR                      st
3  151 GER Robert Förster     UnitedHealthcare UHC                  st
4   91 GBR Geraint Thomas     Sky ProCycling SKY                    st
5   96 GBR Ben Swift          Sky ProCycling SKY                    st
6   25 ITA Giacomo Nizzolo**  Leopard Trek LEO                      st
7  134 GBR Tobyn Horton       Motorpoint MPT                        st
8  111 GBR Andrew Fenn**      An Post - Sean Kelly SKT              st
9  102 NAM Dan Craven         Rapha Condor - Sharp RCS              st
10  43 BEL Stijn Neirynck     Topsport Vlaanderen TSV               st
11 123 ITA Cesare Benedetti   Team NetApp APP                       st
12  54 AUS Michael Matthews** Rabobank RAB                          st
13 135 GBR Jonathan McEvoy**  Motorpoint MPT                        st
14  12 ESP Iker Camano        Endura Racing EDR                     st
15  23 GER Linus Gerdemann    Leopard Trek LEO                 at 0:05
16  83 GBR Roger Hammond      Team Garmin - Cervelo GRM             st
17 155 NED Boy Van Poppel     UnitedHealthcare UHC                  st
18 132 POL Marcin Bialoblocki Motorpoint MPT                        st
19  84 GBR Daniel Lloyd       Team Garmin - Cervelo GRM             st
20  46 BEL Jelle Wallays**    Topsport Vlaanderen TSV        st

Top 20 final general classification

1   51 NED Lars Boom              Rabobank RAB                     26:57:35
2   94 GBR Stephen Cummings       Sky ProCycling SKY       26:58:11 at 0:36
3  122 CZE Jan Barta              Team NetApp APP          26:58:30 at 0:55
4   23 GER Linus Gerdemann        Leopard Trek LEO         26:58:32 at 0:57
5  105 GBR Jonathan Tiernan Locke Rapha Condor - Sharp RCS 26:58:38 at 1:03
6   12 ESP Iker Camano            Endura Racing EDR        26:58:42 at 1:07
7   46 BEL Jelle Wallays**        Topsport Vlaanderen TSV  26:58:47 at 1:12
8   26 NED Joost Posthuma         Leopard Trek LEO         26:58:48 at 1:13
9  125 CZE Leopold Koenig         Team NetApp APP          26:58:54 at 1:19
10  84 GBR Daniel Lloyd           Team Garmin-Cervelo GRM  26:59:00 at 1:25
11  95 AUS Michael Rogers         Sky ProCycling SKY       26:59:05 at 1:30
12  91 GBR Geraint Thomas         Sky ProCycling SKY       26:59:30 at 1:55
13   1 GBR Mark Cavendish         HTC Highroad THR         26:59:58 at 2:23
14 155 NED Boy Van Poppel         UnitedHealthcare UHC     27:00:27 at 2:52
15 111 GBR Andrew Fenn**          An Post - Sean Kelly SKT 27:00:28 at 2:53
16  24 GER Dominic Klemme         Leopard Trek LEO         27:00:37 at 3:02
17  63 NED Jan-Bert Lindeman**    Vacansoleil - DCM VCD    27:00:45 at 3:10
18 102 NAM Dan Craven             Rapha Condor - Sharp RCS 27:00:53 at 3:18
19  55 NED Bram Tankink           Rabobank RAB             27:01:14 at 3:39
20 154 AUS Rory Sutherland        UnitedHealthcare UHC     27:01:27 at 3:52 

Confirmed results and overall classification to follow...