Cat Ferguson breaks new ground to take Tour of Britain lead after crash-packed stage

17 hours ago 2

The 19-year-old home rider Cat Ferguson prevailed in foul conditions at the finish to claim victory on a crash-packed stage three of the Women’s Tour of Britain, and with it the general classification lead.

Ferguson (Movistar) from Skipton, North Yorkshire, surged clear across the cobbles in Kelso to lead home a British one-two in front of Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL). New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) finished third, with Dutch rider Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) in fourth.

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Tour of Britain Women: stage result and overall standings

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Stage three result

1 Cat Ferguson (GB/Movistar) 3h 42m 37s

2 Josie Nelson (GB/Picnic-PostNL) same time

3 Ally Wollaston (NZ/FDJ-Suez) st

4 Karlijn Swinkels (Neth/UAE-Team ADQ) st

5 Eleonora Gasparrini (Ita/UAE-Team ADQ) +3s

6 Millie Couzens (GB National Team) +38s

7 Quinty Ton (Neth/Liv-Alula-Jayco) same time

8 Imogen Wolff (GB/Visma Lease A Bike) st

9 Charlotte Kool (Neth/Picnic-PostNL) st

10 Marta Lach (Pol/SD Worx-Protime) st

General classification

1 Cat Ferguson (GB/Movistar) 8h 39m 42s

2 Ally Wollaston (NZ/FDJ-Suez) +3s

3 Karlijn Swinkels (Neth/UAE-Team ADQ) +12s

4 Riejanne Markus (Neth/Lidl-Trek) +40s

5 Megan Jastrab (US/Picnic-PostNL) +52s

6 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den/Canyon-SRAM) +52s

7 Quinty Ton (Neth/Liv-Alula-Jayco) +56s

8 Anna Henderson (GB/Lidl-Trek) +56s

9 Millie Couzens (GB National Team) +59s

10 Amber Kraak (Neth/FDJ-Suez) + 1m 5s

It propels Ferguson past previous leader Kristen Faulkner – who finished more than three minutes down – and into the overall lead with just Sunday’s final stage to come.

Wollaston trails by just three seconds in the provisional general classification, with Swinkels a further nine seconds back, and Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) fourth, 40 seconds behind Ferguson.

The stage was marred by a host of crashes with a number forced to abandon, among them previous race leader Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal). Ferguson prevailed in a frantic finale to claim her first UCI Women’s World Tour stage victory.