Tour of Britain: Van der Poel wins final stage to claim overall victory

Mathieu van der Poel beat Cees Bol by a tyre width on the line in a sprint finish in Manchester

Mathieu van der Poel won the Tour of Britain as he sprinted to victory in the final stage from Altrincham to Manchester.

The 24-year-old Dutchman claimed his third stage victory in a photo finish from compatriot Cees Bol after a finishing sprint up Deansgate.

Matteo Trentin came third, meaning Van der Poel finished 17 seconds clear of the Italian overall.

"I was focused on the line and think I timed it perfectly," said Van der Poel.

Speaking to ITV Sport, he added: "I was pretty confident I could hold off the guys around me but you cannot react to everyone. There were maybe 20 guys who could have won.

"But in the end I did a perfect job and the team did a perfect job."

Despite missing out on the general classification, Mitchelton-Scott rider Trentin claimed the points jersey while Britain's Jacob Scott was named King of the Mountains.

Ben Swift was named best British rider with his Team Ineos claiming the team award.

Tour of Britain stage eight result

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Corendon-Circus) 3hrs 49mins 26secs

2. Cees Bol (Ned/Team Sunweb) Same time

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott)

4. Mike Teunissen (Ned/Jumbo-Visma)

5. Davide Cimolai (Ita/Israel Cycling Academy)

6. Sacha Modolo (Ita/EF Education First)

7. Nils Eekhoff (Ned/Sunweb)

8. Jasper De Buyst (Bel/Lotto Soudal)

9. Xandro Meurisse (Bel/Wanty-Gobert)

10. Danilo Wyss (Swi/Dimension Data)

Tour of Britain final overall standings

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Corendon-Circus) 29hrs 47mins 41secs

2. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott) +17secs

3. Jasper de Buyst (Bel/Lotto-Soudal) +50secs

4. Pavel Sivakov (Rus/Ineos) +52secs

5. Nils Politt (Ger/Katusha-Alpecin) +1min 1secs

6. Gianni Moscon (Ita/Ineos) Same time

7. Mike Teunissen (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 3secs

8. Andrey Amador (Crc/Movistar) +1min 4 secs

9. Tiesj Benoot (Bel/Lotto-Soudal) +1min 7 secs

10. Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor/Jumbo-Visma) +1 min 8 secs