Lewis Askey maintained his lead at the Tour of Britain on Thursday, finishing safely within the peloton after a dramatic stage two, as teammate Ethan Vernon came fifth in the race’s first bunch sprint. 

Askey’s day on the roads between Boston and Skegness was not much quieter than when he claimed stage one in Lincoln on Wednesday. He was safely escorted through the early part of the stage by his teammates, who were alert to the exposed crosswind sections that began as early as the first kilometer, before he showed his strength and positioning skills when the peloton did split into two with 65 kilometers remaining.

Askey claimed a bonus second at the day’s final sprint, and with nearest challenger Filippo Ganna losing time today, the British rider extended his GC lead to 12 seconds over Tim Wellens, with Matteo Trentin a further seven seconds down.

He says: “We expected it to be stressful. We didn’t know when it was going to go, think we all kind of thought it was going to at some point.

“I just had to be in the right position in the right time and I think I was pretty on it all day today, so I’m quite happy with how we rode.

“I think UAE were pretty motivated to keep it away, maybe Tudor as well. I think it wasn’t really about [putting time into] Ganna, it was more about making the sprint easier and more manageable with a smaller group.

“For us, we just wanted to stay out of trouble and we had all like all our main guys there. It’s always easier to roll through in the crosswinds than sit on the back, especially when it’s a real crosswind.

“I think tomorrow should be a simpler day and then the big day on the stage four.”

Vernon showed encouraging signs by the North Sea coast as he sought his fifth victory of 2026. The British rider outlined his speed as he made his way along the finishing straight by the North Sea coast, and recorded his 13th top-five sprint result of the season.

Stage three on Friday offers another chance for Vernon, as it finishes in the Yorkshire town of Beverley. He finished third there on the race’s last visit in 2023.