Steve Cummings has twice finished second overall at the Tour of Britain in the last eight years but his move into the runner-up slot in the standings in Kendal, six seconds behind the Belgian Julien Vermote, promises to serve as a springboard for something more. The Wirral racer’s perfectly timed attack in the final miles has set him up perfectly to challenge for what is potentially the biggest stage-race victory of his career, depending on how the race pans out before Saturday morning’s time trial in Bristol.
Vermote was the only rider capable of hanging on to Cummings among an elite lead group of 12 that formed over the scenic but tough roads between Windermere and the finish and which should now fight out the overall standings. Some of them had figured in an early 15-man escape that included Vermote, Team Sky’s Nicolas Roche and the yellow jersey, André Greipel – who eventually finished over 13min behind – whereas others such as Cummings, Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands, the Australian Rohan Dennis and Ireland’s Daniel Martin, had eluded the main peloton on the ascent of the Struggle, a first-category ascent to the top of the Kirkstone Pass above Ambleside.
“I was just looking for stages and today was a good chance,” Cummings said, adding that he was also looking to test his form before the world championships in Qatar in October, having put his name in the hat for the time trial. “As it unfolded, the overall classification was in the back of my head as well, because [to have a chance] I had to drop Dumoulin and that’s not easy to do. I wanted the stage, I tried everything I could to get rid of [Vermote] but I had to commit fully to get the time as, if they brought us back, I’d get nothing.”
As rain fell, making the descents treacherous, Dennis was the first to link up with the remnants of the early move, followed eventually by Cummings – who looked to pace his effort over the Struggle rather more conservatively – Martin, Sky’s Ben Swift, Greipel’s Lotto team-mate Tony Gallopin and Dumoulin, all of whom moved into the top 10 overall behind Vermote and Cummings.
In taking solo stage wins in major races such as the Tour de France and Dauphiné Libéré over the last year, Cummings has shown that he can handle tactical situations of this complexity better than most. He slipped to the back of the group, then made his first attack near the top of the drag out of Bowness, followed by another, more incisively, with Vermote clinging to his back wheel as if it was the last lifeboat on the Titanic.
The pair had opened a gap of close to a minute when they hit the final 500 metres to the finish on Beast Banks – which is as pleasant a climb as it sounds – and at the top Cummings gave way to his Belgian companion, who moved into the yellow jersey thanks to a time bonus for the stage win. Critically that means the task of controlling the race will now fall to his and Martin’s Etixx-Quickstep team rather than the Briton’s Dimension Data squad.
With the main peloton coming in between 4min 26sec and 5min 49sec back, only the dozen first finishers in Kendal are within reach of the yellow jersey – among them, Dennis and Dumoulin are the fastest time triallists on paper while Martin’s climbing talent is well known. But Cummings is definitely a superior time triallist to Vermote and he can now afford to watch and wait before Saturday morning’s 15km against the watch in Bristol.
He said: “It would be difficult to win overall coming to Saturday’s time trial in the same time as Dumoulin, Tony Martin and Dennis, so today was perfect. I’ve given myself a good chance. I sort of gave the stage away but I was concentrating on getting time. There is a lot of racing to go and a break could go up the road tomorrow, so I’ll have to take it day by day. But at least I know what I have to do.”
Tuesday’s third stage offers more hills but in a different format over a convoluted course, with a flat opening half through Cheshire followed by a first run through the finish at Tatton Park before a far tougher 100km loop though the Peaks, with three ascents culminating in the Cat and Fiddle, a steady 12km climb out of Macclesfield.
