Team News: KoM Jersey at Home with House in Britain

For the third day out of four, Kristian House put in a brilliant display of aggressive riding to continue his quest to win the Skoda King of the Mountains title at the Tour of Britain.

Once again the stage was dominated by a small move that pulled clear of the peloton in the first hour, and once again House was present when it mattered, making the selection along with five other riders.

“I honestly didn’t know how it would go today, I’d already done two long days off the front and yesterday my legs felt pretty tired in the finale. Today though as soon as we rolled out I felt much better, I had really good sensations so I thought I’d give it another go. I made sure I stayed observant and I picked the right move again.”

The wet and windy conditions clearly suited the in form House, who helped drive the breaks advantage up to a maximum advantage of six minutes and twenty seconds.

“The whole break rode really well together, and no one challenged me for the points which was a big help. I was there to build up as big a lead as possible in the competition, so when the guys started attacking in the last 30km I just left them too it and drifted back.

House managed to score maximum points on all of the days climbs, adding another 16 points to his total to give him a 22 point lead over Euskatel’s Pablo Urtasun, in second place. House though still remains tight-lipped about his overall chances in the competition.

“The K.O.M jersey is hard to defend, and we’ve a lot of hills still to come in the next three days so the competition is far from won. I’ve racked up a few points now, but the race is only half way through. I still have to keep scoring as much as I can.”

As House returned to the main peloton the race was split asunder in the strong coastal crosswinds in the final 25km from the finish. A select 27-man group eventually fought out the race that had been forced clear of the bunch by team Sky. Mark Cavendish took his second stage win in a row, and inherited the lead from overnight leader Lee Howard of Orica Green Edge.

Tomorrow’s stage will be yet another challenge for the riders as they tackle the now traditional Stoke-On-Trent stage, where the overall race was decided last year.