Olympic road race champion Remco Evenepoel won stage five of the Tour of Britain as Romain Gregoire held on to a narrow overall lead to set up a thrilling final stage in Wales on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Former world champion Evenpoel hit the front just over 300m from the line on the second and final ascent of the challenging Tumble climb in south Wales and out-sprinted Britain’s Thomas Gloag, with fellow Briton Oscar Onley coming third.<\/p>\n
Evenpoel heads into the final day of the race just two seconds behind France’s Romain Gregoire in the race for the general classification, with 2018 champion Julian Alaphilippe in third.<\/p>\n
“I think the first time we climbed we wanted to see how we went and then the last three kilometres the wind was blowing quite hard in our face so I knew we would have to wait for the sprint,” Evenpoel said.<\/p>\n
“I know that after a tough day and a hard climb I still had a good sprint [in me] so I just focused on that.”<\/p>\n
Evenpoel is racing for the first time since a combination of illness and injury forced him to drop out of the Tour de France in July. <\/p>\n
He added: “Tomorrow I need to try and go for it [the leader’s green jersey]. It is going to be tricky, I would really love to go and get a win after a long period out of competition.”<\/p>\n
Sunday’s sixth and final stage takes place over 112.2km between Newport and the Welsh capital Cardiff.<\/p>\n
The race will depart from the Geraint Thomas Velodrome on what will be the last day of his career as a rider, which will come to an end when the Welsh former Tour de France champion crosses the line in his home city.<\/p>\n