Lars Boom of the Netherlands tightened his grip on the Tour of Britain on Friday after winning the sixth stage to increase his overall lead in the standings.

The Rabobank rider came home ahead of France’s Alexandre Pichot and
Germany’s Leopold Koenig in a sprint finish after a demanding 146-kilometre
stage from Taunton to Wells.

It was the second stage win of the race for Boom, who is now well placed
with only this weekend’s final two stages remaining.

Boom leads Koenig by 28 seconds in the general classification with
Britain’s Daniel Lloyd a further second behind.

Stage Result
1 Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 03:19:02
2 Alexandre Pichot (Fra, Team Europcar) st
3 Leopold Koenig (Ger, Team NetApp) st
4 Jan Barta (Cze, Team NetApp) st
5 Steve Cummings (GB, Sky ProCycling st
6 Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek) st
7 Jack Bauer (NZ, Endura Racing) st
8 Julian Dean (NZ, Garmin – Cervelo) st
9 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol, Team NetApp) st
10 Iker Camano (Spa, Endura Racing) st

Overall General Classification, after Stage Six
1 Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 20:13:18
2 Leopold Koenig (Ger, Team NetApp) @ 0:28
3 Daniel Lloyd (GB, Garmin – Cervelo) @ 0:29
4 Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek) @ 0:31
5 Steve Cummings (GB, Sky ProCycling) @ 0:32
6 Jelle Wallays (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen) st
7 Jan Barta Team NetApp st
8 Jonathan Tiernan Locke Rapha Condor Sharp st
9 Iker Camano Endura Racing @ 0:50
10 Joost Posthuma Leopard Trek @ 0:52

The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Classification, after Stage Six
1 Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 52pts
2 Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky ProCycling) 41pts
3 Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC Highroad) 40pts
4 Mark Renshaw (Aus, HTC Highroad) 29pts

Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, after Stage Six
1 Jonathan Tiernan Locke (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp) 71pts
2 Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport Specialized) 48pts
3 Steve Cummings (GB, Sky ProCycling) 30pts
4 Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek) 28pts
5 Thomas De Gendt (Bel, Vacansoleil – DCM) 25pts

Yodel Sprints Classification, after Stage Six
1 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel, AN Post – Sean Kelly 36pts
2 Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport – Specialized) 13pts
3 Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 11pts
4 Mark McNally (GB, AN Post – Sean Kelly) 10pts
5 Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post – Sean Kelly) 10pts

UNISON Best Young Rider
1 Jelle Wallays (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen) 20:13:50

Stage Six Combativity Award: Jamie Sparling (Can, Team Raleigh)

Brief Quotes – Lars Boom, Stage Six winner & IG Markets Gold Jersey

“It was a difficult stage; there were four guys, one was at 48 seconds, so we kept close to them. My guys worked really hard, they are so strong, I am really thankful. They worked so hard for me today, and for the rest of the last climb there were attacks from other riders and there was a small group going.

“In the last 20 kilometres there were attacks for the points at the King of the Mountains, and some attacks from (Steve) Cummings and (Michael) Rogers. They went pretty hard I think, but I could keep the wheel and it was okay. After that there were a lot of guys for Garmin, and a lot of other guys that were pulling for the GC guys. I made an advantage of that and I’m really happy with the win.”

On whether the first passage of the line, the Yodel Sprint, helped his finish…

“Yeah we did it of course, we passed the finish one time so I saw the last corner and that it was the last 200m to go afterwards. Gabriel Rasch and Julian Dean went too hard in the last corner, and I took the corner perfectly I think, and from there nobody else was going to win.”

On the Somerset support…
“It’s quite big support in UK I think, and that’s really nice of course to have such big support for the whole stage.”

On his prospects of retaining the IG Markets Gold Jersey…

“My team mates are very strong and are going to work tomorrow, maybe with some of the sprinters teams. I am confident for the time trial – that is one of my favourite disciplines, so I am confident. But anything can happen, so I will try my best tomorrow. We will be alright I think.”