Cat Ferguson breaks new ground to take Tour of Britain lead after crash-packed stage
Ferguson (Movistar) from Skipton, North Yorkshire, surged clear across the cobbles in Kelso to lead home a British one-two in front of Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL). New Zealand's Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) finished third, with Dutch rider Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) in fourth.
It propels Ferguson past previous leader Kristen Faulkner – who finished more than three minutes down – and into the overall lead with just Sunday's final stage to come.
Wollaston trails by just three seconds in the provisional general classification, with Swinkels a further nine seconds back, and Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) fourth, 40 seconds behind Ferguson.
The stage was marred by a host of crashes with a number forced to abandon, among them previous race leader Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal). Ferguson prevailed in a frantic finale to claim her first UCI Women's World Tour stage victory.
This report will update soon
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