September 17 - Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (pictured) claimed a fourth successive stage win to stretch his lead in the Tour of Britain standings to 19 seconds with two stages left to race.


The 22-year-old won a sprint finish at the end of the 183.7 kilometres sixth stage in the West Country and he will now expect to hold off second-placed Kai Reus over the course of tomorrow's penultimate stage and the 92.5-km race to the finish in London on Saturday.

Boasson Hagen, who last week agreed to move from Team Columbia-HTC to Britain's Team Sky in 2010, won a sprint to the line ahead of Germany's Martin Reimer and third-placed Britain Russell Downing, who will also ride for Sky next year.

Australian Chris Sutton finished the stage in seventh and is still handily placed in fourth overall and only trails Boasson Hagen in the points competition.

But compatriot Simon Clarke dropped from fifth to eighth place overall after a 62nd-placed finish in today's stage.

Related stories

September 2009: Hagen claims lead as Sutton hit by Wiggins pullout
September 2009: Wiggins pulls out of Tour of Britain to concentrate on World Championships
September 2009: Norwegian wins third stage of Tour of Britain
September 2009: Dutchman completes miracle recovery with victory in Tour of Britain
September 2009: Australian clinches first stage win at Tour of Britain