Stephen Williams wins Tour of Britain's queen stage as Evenepoel and Alaphilippe crack

Stephen Williams has won stage 3 of the Tour of Britain and consolidated his race lead over Oscar Onley; whilst Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe struggled in the hilliest stage of the race.

The final hilly stage of the race, it was likely the final test for Israel - Premier Tech and Stevie Williams. The Welshman was in great form but was put under pressure from early on as Julian Alaphilippe - second in GC - attacked right at the start of the day and was in the day's four-rider breakaway alongside Ben Swift, Jake Stewart and Jelte Krijnsen.

But the group was dangerous with the Frenchman there, and was chased down early on. A seven-rider group then went up the road including the likes of Tobias Foss and Jonas Abrahamsen; another one that was quite dangerous. Israel - Premier Tech however managed to control.

Alaphilippe's efforts early on cost him and he was dropped in the final kilometers, as was Remco Evenepoel who is still looking for his best form. The final kilometers were still treacherous though with the likes of Oscar Onley and Tom Pidcock putting in the pressure.

But Israel had a perfect ride, taking the race leader to the final climb and in the uphill final sprint, Williams followed Edoardo Zambanini and then had a very strong acceleration to the line to take his second consecutive win. Paul Magnier sprinted to second place, however a deviation in the final meters saw him almost take Zambanini out - who miraculously stayed on the bike and finished third.