A first professional victory on home soil, and hopefully a pre-cursor to big things later on in the week. Stevie Williams capitalized on a combative and dominant Israel – Premier Tech performance to win stage 2 of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday, with the bonus seconds on the line moving him into the race lead.
Williams beat Oscar Onley (DFP) and two-time Tour of Britain winner Julian Alaphilippe (SOQ) in Redcar after the trio broke clear on the uncategorized climb at Saltburn Bank a little under 10 kilometers from the line. The Welshman instigated the move, attacking from an elite breakaway group that included teammate Joe Blackmore and also featured a third IPT rider, Jake Stewart, for a key part of the race.
“This is my third time at this race and I’ve never managed to get my hands in the air here,” said Williams. “It’s really special to win in the UK – we don’t get to race here often so it means a lot.
“From 70 kilometers to go it was technical and twisty, with steep climbs, and the key was to stay in front. We were there in numbers – the way the boys rode was superb. They made sure I was positioned brilliantly going into the climbs.”
The Welshman paid tribute to Blackmore, who placed an impressive fourth, winning a five-up sprint ahead of Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.
“Joe was unbelievable in the final, giving us the extra rider to play with,” he adds. “In the end the goal was to get me to the line in a small group. I back my sprint in that situation.”
Sports Director Sam Bewley praised the team’s performance, saying: “Today was a really good day for the team. The stage presented a lot of opportunities for an attacking race and we expected it to start kicking off a fair way out from the final circuit.
“We have good depth in our team and it was important we had numbers once the race was reduced. Inside the final 25 kilometers it was about doing what we needed to do to keep things in our favor as we believed Stevie could make a difference on the final climb. The team was great and Stevie was brilliant in the way he finished it off.”
Williams leads Onley by six seconds, with Alaphilippe third overall, a further 10 seconds down. Thursday’s third stage is the hardest of the race, taking place between Sheffield and Barnsley.
And while the final three stages of the race seem suited to the sprinters, Williams knows the GC battle isn’t over until Sunday.
He adds: “Four more days to go, it doesn’t end until it ends. We’ll play it day by day – a lot of things can happen in a stage race.”
