Kiwi cyclist Corbin Strong has stretched his lead at the Tour of Britain, after sprinting to a third-place finish on the second stage from Hawick to Duns.
The Commonwealth Games track gold medallist continued his great form on the roads, after capturing the opening stage and leader's red jersey, again featuring in the bunch finish, after an undulating 175.2km journey.
Dutchman Cees Bol barely outstretched Brit Jake Stewart on the finish-line, with Strong, 22, a bike length back, extending his overall lead to eight seconds over Stewart and Spaniard Omar Fraile. The Kiwi also leads the tour points classification.
"I’m confident, as I am sprinting well at the moment," he said. "I was there or thereabouts, but there was some fast guys still there at the finish though, so third was the best I could do today.
"It's a really nice and pretty humbling experience actually. Having some guys that I've grown up watching, like Michal Kwiatkowski and Richie Porte, congratulate me is a really cool feeling, as a young neo-pro.
"It was a nice day for me and hopefully it continues."
Strong is a former world points race champion on the track and won the scratch race at Birmingham last month, and won the NZ Cycle Classic general classification on the road last year.
With 14 seconds covering the top 46 riders overall, he must now defend the red jersey over the 163.6km third stage from Durham to Sunderland, with a steep climb about 40km into the journey.
