Wiggins slips behind as Zardini takes lead

Italy’s Edoardo Zardini emerged triumphant from the gruelling climb of the Tumble in south Wales to claim victory on stage three of the Tour of Britain on Tuesday and take possession of the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

Nicolas Roche of Tinkoff-Saxo had moved ahead of Bardiani-CSF’s Zardini as the pair battled at the front on the summit finish on the stage from Newtown. However, the Irishman was subsequently overtaken by his rival, who exhibited perfect timing as he broke clear to win by nine seconds.

Roche eventually came in third, 11 seconds back, with Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski taking second place. Dylan Teuns, of Belgium, was fourth, while defending champion Sir Bradley Wiggins was fifth, 14 seconds back. The Briton has now moved from 10 to 24 seconds off the top in the general classification, which sees Zardini 13 seconds clear of second-placed Kwiatkowski.

“It’s a fantastic day for me and the team,” Zardini told Eurosport. “This is the most important result of my career. I am really happy.”

There are five days of the race to go, with today’s 184.6km stage taking the riders from Worcester to Bristol.