Cycling: Locke takes gold jersey at sixth stage

Tiernan-Locke came second behind Team NetApp rider Koenig on the 189.8 kilometre ride from Welshpool to Caerphilly.

LONDON: Englishman Jonathan Tiernan-Locke rode into the overall lead on the Tour of Britain thanks to an aggressive showing in the sixth stage in Wales, which was won by Leopold Koenig of the Czech Republic. Tiernan-Locke, of the Endura Racing team, came second behind Team NetApp rider Koenig on the 189.8 kilometre ride from Welshpool to Caerphilly and took the leader’s gold jersey from Australia’s Leigh Howard with two stages remaining. Tiernan-Locke received a six-second time bonus for placing second and has a 13-second lead over Howard going into the next stage. “That was always going to be the decisive day today, such a sharp climb twice,” Tiernan-Locke told ITV4. “It was a tough one.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2012.