Bennett has to pull out

Irish pair Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Sean Kelly) and Peter Hawkins (IG Sigma Sport) endured difficult days yesterday on the sixth stage of the Tour of Britain while McLaughlin’s team-mate Sam Bennett was forced to pull out with a knee injury.

It will come as a bitter blow to Bennett as he had been riding superbly all week — bagging three top 10 finishes but he now sets his sights on next weekend’s U23 World Championships in Holland.

Yesterday’s queen stage was always billed as the one that would likely cause most damage and so it proved when a select group went clear on the first ascent of the of Caerphilly mountain.

Leopold König (Team NetApp) won the stage in Caerphilly while his breakaway companion and stage runner-up Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) moved into the overall lead after a spirited ride on the taxing, 8km finishing circuit.