Callum Thornley (Trinity Racing) and Oscar Onley (Team dsm-fimenich PostNL) became the first Scottish cyclists since Pippa York (neé Robert Millar) to claim a jersey at the Tour of Britain since 1990.
Onley, who hails from the races’ Grand Depart town of Kelso, finished in second place in the general classification, a best Scottish performance in the modern iteration of the race (which launched in 2004) and best in any Tour of Britain since York’s second place in 1990. His efforts claimed the exciting young talent the White Jersey for the Best Young Rider.
A break on the hilly Stage Two from Darlington to Redcar saw Onley ride clear of the field, with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Stephen Williams (Israel Premier-Tech). This would set the scene for the general classification battle, with Onley a mere 16 seconds behind the Welshman.
Attacks on the South Yorkshire hills on Stage Three and the crosswinds on the final stage into Felixstowe would take the racing to Williams’ beleaguered IPT team, but nothing was quite able to stick. Nevertheless, it would be another excellent week’s racing from the Kelso rider who continues to impress despite coming off the back of his Tour de France debut in July.
After attacking riding on Stages One and Two, Peebles’ native Thornley claimed the King of the Mountains Jersey.
The Trinity rider was making his debut at the race, off the back of impressive results at the U23 Giro d’Italia and Alpes Isére Tour this season. With the jersey effectively sewn up on the second stage, Thornley could have chosen to ease off the gas and the roll into the finish, but attacks again on Stages Three and Six – as well as a tenth place into Barnsley would show the promise of the 21-year-old rider.
Edinburgh’s Sean Flynn (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) claimed tenth on the stage, which raised him into tenth place on the general classification. The Scot, who like Thornley, comes from a Mountain Bike background, rode in support of Onley and sprinter Casper van Uden, but still managed to finish with a very strong result.
Stephen Williams made history as he became the first Welshman to win the modern Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, and the first Brit to win the national tour since 2016. Williams (Israel – Premier Tech) completed a clean sweep of British riders on the podium, heading home Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) by 16 seconds, with four British riders in the top five placings in the overall general classification.
After the podiums, on the final stage in Felixstowe, Oscar Onley said of his week’s racing:
“It’s been a fun week of racing, I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the race, it’s not really a parcours that suits me that well. There was plenty of opportunities to race and we really tried that on most of the days and I’m quite happy to come away with second. The crowds are always really good in Britain and especially on the first day at home for myself, I heard a lot of shouts and had a lot of friends and family out on the road.
“I think I got the best possible result. I’m hoping to be selected for the World Championships. I think getting a good week in the legs especially after the tour and I’m just trying to hold that form now up until worlds if I get selected. Then after that I have a few more races for the team so still a few more weeks of racing.”
Callum Thornley said of his breakout performance:
“It was great to pull off winning the jersey and get a bit of TV time and publicity for the team and myself. It’s been a great week for the team, and it was good to finish it off like that. I held my own out there a little bit, it shows what I can do at this level.
“I hope I’ve got my name out there this week and showed people what I can do. It was nice to get the KoM jersey, I think I backed it up with that top ten finish in stage three and I tried to get involved today as much as I can, it’s just been a fun week of racing, it’s been nice and open.”