Peter Kennaugh finished off the expected Sky dominance in the British championships by taking a surprise victory in the sprint against his teammate Ben Swift to take his first ever road race title. Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE) continued his comeback from injury by preventing Sky from making it a clean sweep of the podium.
Last year Team Sky missed out on the win in British road race championships when Mark Cavendish took the title. With the defending champion being absent due to illness, the team went into the 2014 edition of the race with the firm intention of reclaiming their position at the top.
That's what they did as they put in a dominant showing in the race in Monmouthshire. When the decisive group 8-rider group emerged with 80km to go, they had no less than half of the riders in the move.
Peter Kennaugh, Ben Swift, Luke Rowe and Josh Edmondson made up the Sky contingent but they faced stiff opposition from the Yates brothers Adam and Simon who were there for Orica-GreenEDGE. Continental riders Mark Christian and Scott Davies were the surprise elements in the group.
Davies was the first to get dropped while Geraint Thomas tried to bridge across to join his Sky teammates. The Welshman never made the junction and so the 7 riders in the front had to fight it out for the title.
Rowe launched the first attack to put the Yates brothers on the defensive. When he was brought back, Christian and Adam Yates had been dropped, leaving Simon Yates up against 4 Sky riders.
Edmondson and Rowe blew up and finally Yates was also unable to keep up with Swift and Kennaugh. As they kept increasing their advantage, they forgot all about teamwork and decided to make an outright race for the win.
Kennaugh tried to drop Swift on the climbs but as the sprinter hang onto the wheel, it seemed that Swift's win was a foregone conclusion when the pair arrived from the sprint. However, Kennaugh came off Swift's wheel to take a surprise victory.
Kennaugh won't get the chance to show off his jersey in the Tour de France as he hasn't been selected for the Sky roster.
Result:
1. Peter Kennaugh
2. Ben Swift
3. Simon Yates
4. Luke Rowe
5. Josh Edmondson
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