Tour of Britain stage eight neutralised due to non-racing incident

Stage eight of the Tour of Britain was temporarily neutralised this afternoon due to a road traffic incident further up the route.

As the day’s breakaway crested the summit of the Bwlch climb, the riders were ushered to the side of the road with 83 kilometres left to race to the finish in Caerphilly. 

According to a report from WalesOnline, the road incident occurred in the town of Treorchy, where the air ambulance was on the scene as well as other emergency services.

Prior to the race being halted, a six-man lead group had formed containing Oliver Wood of the Great Britain cycling team, Max Walker of Trinity racing, Casper Van Uden of dsm-firmenich, TDT-Unibet’s Abram Stockman, James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and Bingoal WB’s Johan Meens.

The lead group had approximately two minutes' advantage on the peloton at the time the race was halted.

A brief message published on social media by the race organiser confirmed the news and said further updates would soon follow. "Race paused due to non-racing incident along the route," the statement read. 

As the peloton ground to a standstill, television pictures showed riders climbing off their bikes and pulling on jackets, arm warmers and other wet weather clothing in order to keep warm whilst they waited for further updates.

The neutralisation lasted for approximately 35 minutes, which included the descent from the Bwlch and a brief section in the valley at the bottom of the climb. Racing was resumed at the 74km to go mark, on the Rhigos climb, where the breakaway was given a three-minute headstart over the peloton.

The race restarted at a frantic pace just after 2pm, as the lead group looked to continue their momentum that had seen them establish their original advantage. The breakaway's gap was then whittled down on the Rhigos, before their advantage was levelled entirely on the category-one Bryn Du. 

Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) went on to win the stage with a solo attack, while Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) claimed the overall title by three seconds.