Tour of Britain: Belgium’s Wout van Aert claims second title as Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez wins stage eight

Wout van Aert was crowned Tour of Britain champion for a second time as Carlos Rodriguez won this year’s final stage.

Van Aert held a three-second overall lead over a group of 10 riders heading into stage eight.

Rodriguez launched a final attack ascent, but had to beat Van Aert by at least 39 seconds to secure the general classification crown.

The Spaniard finished just 11 seconds ahead of the Belgian.

Jumbo-Visma’s Van Aert won by three seconds overall to add to his 2021 title.

Uno-X’s Tobias Halland Johannessen of Norway finished second in the general classification, with Australia’s Q.36.5 rider Damien Howsen coming third.

New Zealand’s James Fouche secured the king of the mountains prize for best climber.

Sunday’s final stage had to be diverted after an unrelated accident on the route which reportedly left one person hurt, and a section over Bwlch mountain did not go ahead.

The race resumed half an hour later with Rodriguez and Great Britain’s Stephen Williams attacking on the mountain climb of Bryn Du with 50km remaining.

The pair led the chasing group by 20 seconds as they headed into the first ascent of Caerphilly Mountain before Rodriguez launched a solo attack at the top of the climb.

However, Van Aert led a group of four in chasing down the Ineos Grenadiers rider and held off a late challenge from Magnus Sheffield as he crossed the line in second.