Stannard romps to Tour of Britain stage win

London - Team Sky's Ian Stannard produced a dominant ride to sweep to victory in the Tour of Britain's third stage on Tuesday.

Stannard established himself among a small breakaway group soon after the race left Congleton and with 40 kilometres to go the Englishman surged to the finish line.

The 29-year-old, who helped Chris Froome to his latest Tour de France triumph, finished almost two minutes clear of Graham Briggs of the JLT-Condor team and ONE Pro Cycling's Kristian House.

It was a first win of the season for Stannard, the 2012 national road champion who is more often seen doing long turns at the front of the pack for Froome.

Stannard has some race pedigree after collecting podium finishes at E3 Harelbeke and Paris-Roubaix this year.

Belgium's Julien Vermote, the winner of Monday's second stage, retains the overall lead as Stannard lost more than 13 minutes to the Ettix-QuickStep rider in the Lake District.

Tour of Britain results following Tuesday's third stage, a 179km ride from Congleton to Tatton Park:

Stage

1. Ian Stannard (GBR/Team Sky) 04hrs 14mins 12secs, 2. Graham Briggs (GBR/JLT-Condor) at 1min 46secs, 3. Kristian House (GBR/One Pro Cycling) at same time, 4. Nicola Ruffoni (ITA/Bardiani Csf) at 5:43, 5. Danny Van Poppel (NED/Team Sky), 6. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/Team Giant-Alpecin), 7. Christopher Latham (GBR/Team Wiggins), 8. Rick Zabel (GER/BMC Racing Team), 9. Dylan Van Baarle (NED/Cannondale Drapac Team), 10. Luka Mezgec (SLO/Orica-Bikeexhange)

General Classification

1. Julien Vermote (BEL/Etixx-Quick Step) 12hrs 53mins 15secs, 2. Stephen Cummings (GBR/Dimension Data) at 06secs, 3. Daniel Martin (IRL/Etixx-Quick Step) at 01min 04secs, 4. Ben Swift (GBR/Team Sky) at 01min 08secs, 5. Xandro Meurisse (BEL/Wanty-Groupe Gobert), 6. Tony Gallopin (FRA/Lotto Soudal) at same time, 7. Dylan Van Baarle (NED/Cannondale Drapac Team) at 01min 12secs, 8. Guillaume Martin (FRA/Wanty-Groupe Gobert), 9. Tom Dumoulin (NED/Team Giant-Alpecin) at same time, 10. Nicolas Roche (IRL/Team Sky) at 01min 16secs