Wales' Williams wins Tour of Britain stage two

Welsh cyclist Stephen Williams raises his arms in celebration after winning stage two of the 2024 Tour of BritainSWpix.com

Stephen Williams won this year's La Fleche Wallonne in April

Wales' Stephen Williams outsprinted Julian Alaphilippe to win stage two of the Tour of Britain in Redcar and claim the overall lead.

Israel–Premier Tech rider Williams held off France's two-time world road race champion Alaphilippe and Britain's Oscar Onley as a three-man breakaway contested the finish to the 152.1km stage from Darlington.

Britain's Joseph Blackmore finished fourth, at the front of a chasing group also containing Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, 21 seconds down on Williams.

Williams, 28, now leads the general classification by six seconds over Onley, with Alaphilippe in third, a further 10 seconds back.

“It’s really good to get my hands in the air," said Williams. "It was a really tough day out.

“The aim now is to try and hold onto the jersey - it’s not the easiest job in the world. We have a strong team so hopefully everything goes right on the road."

Stage one winner and overnight leader Paul Magnier finished ninth, one minute 27 seconds down on Williams, and is now ninth overall.

Thursday's stage three is a 166.1km hilly route from Sheffield to Barnsley.

Stage two results

  1. Stephen Williams (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) 3hrs 37mins 25secs

  2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step) Same time

  3. Oscar Onley (GB/Team dsm–firmenich PostNL)

  4. Joseph Blackmore (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) +21secs

  5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal–Quick-Step) Same time

  6. Louis Sutton (GB/Great Britain)

  7. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra/Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale Development Team)

  8. Mark Donovan (GB/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)

  9. Paul Magnier (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step +1min 27secs

  10. Matevz Govekar (Slo/Team Bahrain Victorious) Same time

General classification after stage two

  1. Stephen Williams (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) 7hrs 49mins 00secs

  2. Oscar Onley (GB/Team dsm–firmenich PostNL) +6secs

  3. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step) +16secs

  4. Mark Donovan (GB/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +31secs

  5. Joseph Blackmore (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) Same time

  6. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra/Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale Development Team)

  7. Louis Sutton (GB/Great Britain)

  8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal–Quick-Step)

  9. Paul Magnier (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step +1min 27secs

  10. Julius Johansen (Den/Sabgal–Anicolor) +1min 28secs

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