Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Wellens claimed his first Tour de France stage victory in 2025 ByMandeep SangheraBBC Sport journalist Published 3 hours ago Belgium's Tim Wellens won the 2026 Tour of Britain as Nils Politt claimed victory on stage five.
Wellens began the day with a 21 second lead over Great Britain's Lewis Askey and extended that to 42 seconds as he finished eighth, 21 seconds behind German Politt, on the final stage.
Askey finished 40 seconds adrift of Wellens on the 156.1km run through Earlston but managed to hold on to second place, with Belgium's Jasper Stuyven 21 seconds behind him in third place.
Great Britain's Elliot Rowe ended the event in sixth place, with compatriots Mark Donovan in ninth and Ben Wiggins in 10th.
Prior to the start of the stage, the riders gave Briton Ben Swift a guard of honour as the 38-year-old recently announced he will retire at the end of the 2026 season.
Politt launched an attack with just under nine kilometres to go and saw off Wiggins before going on to win his first stage since 2022.
Van Aert wins stage 15 of Vuelta a Espana Meanwhile, on the shortened stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana, Wout van Aert claimed an impressive victory.
During the tactical latter stages, Van Aert - who won stage 13 - covered any attacks from his rivals in a five-rider breakaway before he proved strongest in a sprint for the line in Cordoba.
The stage had been shortened from 189.7km to 110.2km as race organisers had activated the extreme weather protocol because of the heat and temperatures reached 40C.
Enric Mas retained the overall leader's red jersey as second-placed Felix Gall stays two minutes and six seconds adrift, while Primoz Roglic is 2:10 behind the leader going into Monday's rest day.
