Canyon dhb SunGod at the Tour of Britain: Stage two in pictures

Hungry for more! Despite taking a firm grasp of two jerseys following back-to-back days in the breakaway, Canyon dhb SunGod’s Jacob Scott was left wondering what might have been after stage two of the 2021 Tour of Britain.

In the second of our photo round-ups, we take a look behind the scenes of another memorable stage...

Winding its way through the Dartmoor National Park, the 184km second stage of this year’s Tour of Britain offered up more than 3,000m of climbing. That couldn’t wipe the smile off Jacob Scott’s face as he prepared for the start in his king of the mountains jersey.

A few last-minute pointers from the boss so he knows exactly what to expect on the grippy route through Devon. There were three king of the mountains points on the course – and Jacob Scott went on to execute the plan, scooping maximum points on each one.

So far, so good. In the team car, proud Canyon dhb SunGod sports director Tim Elverson shares a joke with James Lowsley-Williams, who rode for the squad in the 2017 and 2018 seasons before taking up a presenting role with GCN.

After a sweltering day in the saddle – and with the peloton failing in their chase – the stage was set for Jacob Scott and his last remaining breakaway companion, American Robin Carpenter, to duke it out for glory on the streets of Exeter. Then disaster struck. Well, more accurately, cramp.

Jacob said: “I was convinced I could win it, right up until the moment I started cramping, which has never happened to me before. I’d have taken second after that but obviously got caught. It’s just the way it goes sometimes, but I’ll have to make up for it now!”

The sprint for second place was won by INEOS Grenadiers man Ethan Hayter. However, Canyon dhb SunGod’s Rory Townsend fought right to the line – taking a superb sixth to add to the fifth he bagged on the opening stage. He sits sixth in the general classification.

As is the case in bike racing, you have to take a fair bit of rough with the smooth. Here Thomas Mein smiles in spite of the baptism of fire that has been his debut Tour of Britain so far. Along with team-mate Max Stedman, the Great Britain cyclocross talent has hit the deck in each of the first two stages.

Jacob Scott remains in pole position in the king of the mountains competition – with a 12-point lead over his nearest rival. The hugely-popular Yorkshireman is also in command of the intermediate sprints classification as the team heads into stage three, an 18.2km team time trial in Carmarthenshire.

The race continues...