Carpenter takes Tour of Britain's second stage

LONDON (AFP) - Robin Carpenter became the first American to win a Tour of Britain stage as his breakaway effort secured the overall race lead on Monday.

Carpenter saw off challenges from British duo Ethan Hayter and Alex Peters during the 184-kilometre second stage from Sherford to Exeter.

Belgian Wout Van Aert won the first stage on Sunday after an uphill sprint in Bodmin.

But the peloton was left too much ground to make up to reel back Monday s breakaway pack.

Rally Cycling rider Carpenter was in the group to make an early move and the 29-year-old pulled ahead with around 25km to go.

Carpenter pushed on to finish 33 seconds ahead of Hayter, riding for Ineos Grenadiers, and Peters of SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling.

Carpenter is top of the general classification standings, with a lead of 22 seconds over Jumbo-Visma s Van Aert.

Hayter now sits third, some 26 seconds adrift, with Spain s Gonzalo Serrano fourth alongside Peters.

"In the end leading the overall is great and it s a big bonus but we ll see about making it through the team time trial tomorrow with my team-mates," Carpenter said.

"We were going to hit it hard anyway. We ve got a couple of guys who are well suited to maybe go for the overall so we ll do our best and we ll see what happens but it s going to be a challenge for sure."

Stage three will see a time trial over 18.2km, which starts in Llandeilo and heads to the National Botanic Garden of Wales on Tuesday.