Borders cyclist Oscar Onley racks up second top-five overall finish in Tour of Britain on spin

The Kelso 22-year-old followed up his runner-up spot in general classification last year by placing fourth this time round and as highest-ranked British rider, eight seconds shy of France’s Romain Gregoire’s combined time of 19:31:23 for the tour’s six stages.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel was runner-up, two seconds behind Gregoire, 22, and Julian Alaphilippe, another French rider, was third, a further two seconds back.

London-born Onley, with Netherlands-based Team Picnic-PostNL since 2023, finished last Tuesday’s 100-mile opening stage from Woodbridge to Southwold in Suffolk in 67th place, with first place going to Dutch rider Olav Kooij in 3:29:01.

He finished the day after’s 108-mile stage two, also in Suffolk, starting and finishing in Stowmarket, 31st, with Kooij, 23, winning again, in 3:44:14.

Last Thursday’s 83-mile stage three from Buckinghamshire’s Milton Keynes to Ampthill in Bedfordshire saw Onley place 73rd, with victory going to County Durham’s Matthew Brennan in 2:35:45.

Friday’s stage four over 121 miles in Warwickshire from Atherstone to Burton Dassett Hills Country Park was won by Gregoire in 4:06:18, with Onley following in 12th place.

Onley finished Saturday’s 83-mile penultimate stage, one of two in Wales, from Pontypool in Torfaen to the Tumble, above Abergavenney in Monmouthshire, in third place, with Evenepoel, 25, winning in 3:07:56.

This year’s tour concluded with a 76-mile ride from Newport to Cardiff on Sunday won by Kooij, 58th overall in general classification, in 2:28:19, with Onley finishing 15th.

“It has been a nice week,” said Onley after that finale.

“It’s always nice to race on home roads as you see a lot of familiar faces.

“There was no pressure on me this week, so it’s nice to get some racing in the legs.

“There wasn’t much on today’s parcours to do anything, so I had to search for opportunities. The climb was the hardest part, so I tried something.”

Looking back on his best finish of the tour the day before, he added: “It was nice to be racing on Welsh roads. They’re really good around here.

“The race wasn’t as hard as we expected and it all came back together before the bottom of the Tumble the last time.

“With quite a strong headwind up the climb, it made it difficult to break away. With the wind, it was hard to stay away.

“It was then just about giving everything I had in the sprint, and maybe I could have done better had I not been on the attack before, but I tried.”

Onley’s teammates Matteo Vanhuffel, Sean Flynn, John Degenkolb, Enzo Leijnse and Timo de Jong respectively placed 51st, 60th, 77th, 89th and 94th out of a field of 105, off pole position by 11:30, 14:50, 19:28, 23:28 and 26:22.

Gregoire was delighted to end up on top of the leaderboard, saying: “I’m really happy. I’ve always wanted to win a race like this. I’m just enjoying the moment, and I’m really happy for myself and the team.

“The riders behind me were very close in GC, so I had to manage today well, and I think as a team we did it to perfection.

“Controlling the break and making sure it was a sprint finish, today went really well for us.”

Onley’s eight seconds off top spot this time round was half the margin he conceded to Welsh winner Stephen Williams last year, with the 29-year-old clocking 21:25:14 for six stages starting in Kelso and concluding in Suffolk.

Next up for him is a trip to Canada for two one-day races this weekend, at Quebec on Friday and Montreal on Sunday, accompanied by Tobias Lund Andresen, Warren Barguil, Frank van den Broek, Romain Combaud, Robbe Dhondt and Tim Naberman.

Looking ahead to the latter, team coach Matt Winston said: “Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal once again serves up one of the toughest one-day races on the calendar, with the peloton expected to be whittled down lap after lap on ademanding circuit.

“We bring a strong climbing group to the start, ready to support our finisher Oscar and position him well as the race reaches its decisive final lap.”