After the third stage of the Tour of Britain, that was heavily influenced by the miserable weather conditions, Israel – Premier Tech lost the leader’s jersey. The peloton misjudged the strength of the break, and the group of escapees ultimately made it to the line.
Right after the finish, the organization did not calculate time differences between the break and the peloton. Strong was therefore honored on the podium as race leader. However, the UCI commissaire president ‘followed a review of the implementation protocol of the calculation of time gaps expected to finish in bunch sprints’ and the stage 3 result got amended.
As a result, a rival of Strong that was in the breakaway, surpassed IPT’s team leader to take the race lead. Strong is now second in GC, sitting seven seconds behind the red jersey.
Israel – Premier Tech was pulling all day long in the pouring rain with Reto Hollenstein and Alex Dowsett. When the time gap appeared to be bigger than originally communicated, other teams joined the circus. “It then turned into a hard last hour of racing”, said Strong, who was obviously disappointed about ultimately losing the red jersey.
With tomorrow’s queen stage ahead, Israel – Premier Tech will again be put to the test. Strong expects to be challenged tomorrow. “It looks easier on paper than it actually is. I expect battles tomorrow.”
Strong is still the leader in the points classification. He will therefore race the fourth stage in the blue jersey.
