Tour of Britain: Jack Bauer wins as Julien Vermote keeps lead

Jack Bauer sprinted to victory in Bath

Breakaway rider Jack Bauer narrowly held off the peloton in a thrilling finish to win stage five of the Tour of Britain as Belgium's Julien Vermote retained the overall lead.

Bauer (Cannondale-Drapac) sprinted to victory ahead of fellow escapees Amael Moinard (BMC Racing) in second place and Erick Rowsell (Madison Genesis) in third after the trio had avoided being caught by just a couple of metres.

All of the contenders for overall victory followed in the peloton, meaning Vermote (Etixx - Quick-Step) remains six seconds ahead of second-placed Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) and 1min 3sec in front of third-placed Ben Swift (Team Sky) in the general classification.

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Bauer said: "I didn't think the break would go to the line today, and I also didn't plan on being in the break, but that's the way it played out. I had good legs out there and I used them to the best of my ability, and luckily had a little bit more than the other three or four guys with me at the line.

"It means a hell of a lot. A year ago I was in a hospital bed with a broken leg. This signals my comeback to the top of the sport. It is a big turning point for me."

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The Tour of Britain continues on Friday with a crucial 149.8km sixth stage starting in Sidmouth and ending with a summit finish at Haytor in Datmoor.

Find out more about the route in our race guide and follow the action with our live blog from 1pm BST.

Stage five result

1 Jack Bauer (NZ) Cannondale-Drapac, 5:45:25
2 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing, same time
3 Erick Rowsell (GB) Madison Genesis, st
4 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange, st
5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, st
6 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, st
7 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st
8 Dan McLay (GB) Great Britain, st
9 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, st
10 Domingos Goncalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, st

General classification

1 Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step, 23:07:29
2 Steve Cummings (GB) Dimension Data, +6sec
3 Ben Swift (GB) Team Sky, +1:03
4 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, same time
5 Dan Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step, +1:04
6 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, +1:08
7 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac, 1:12
8 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, st
9 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, +1:16
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, st

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