The final three stages of the 2022 Tour of Britain have been cancelled as a mark of respect following the death yesterday of Queen Elizabeth II.
Race organisers initially announced last night that just today’s Stage 6 would be cancelled, before updating the statement later in the evening to say Stages 7 and 8 would not take place either.
As a result, the general classification leader after Stage 5, Spain’s Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar), has been declared the overall winner of the 2022 Tour of Britain.
Serrano, the winner of Stage 4 to Duncombe Park, had been leading Ineos Grenadiers pair Tom Pidcock and Omar Fraile by just 3 seconds and 7 seconds respectively.
Britain’s Pidcock has the consolation of winning the points classification, while Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB’s Mathijs Paasschens takes the mountains prize.
The statement from race organisers says the decision was made ‘in light of operational circumstances, including the understandable reassignment of police resource at this time’.
Stage 6 today would have seen the peloton cover 170.9km from Tewkesbury to Gloucester, before the race’s first ever visit to Dorset (tomorrow) and the Isle of Wight (Sunday), with significant crowds having been expected on both days.
It remains to be seen whether those stages will be included in the same or similar form in next year’s race, with the earliest indications of the 2023 Tour of Britain route only expected in the new year.
Main image: Oli Scarff / Getty Images