BELGIUM’S Jordi Meeus emerged victorious from a bunch sprint in Mansfield to win stage five of the Tour of Britain.
The BORA–hansgrohe rider edged out Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB), while Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) finished third.
It moved Olympic gold medallist Pidcock closer to race leader Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) in the overall standings, three seconds behind the stage four-winning Spaniard who ended the afternoon in 21st.
Pidcock’s compatriot Sam Watson took fourth place on an afternoon that saw a four-man breakaway cut down to two with 45km remaining, then caught by the peloton with 9.2km to go.
READ MORE: Tom Pidcock edged out in Tour of Britain stage four
A strange twist saw a large number of riders make a wrong turn around a junction in the final kilometre to rule themselves out and set up the dramatic finish.
Stage six will see the riders race 170.9km from Tewkesbury to Gloucester, the first time the county has hosted the Tour for a full day.
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