Intro:

England's Alex Dowsett takes the Tour of Britain overall lead after finishing second to Austrian Matthias Brändle on the sixth stage.

Script:

The iconic Royal Crescent in Bath was the scene for an eye-catching stage six of the Tour of Britain on Friday.

England's Alex Dowsett started the day 19th in the general classification but he managed to move into the overall lead after finishing second.

Sir Bradley Wiggins conceded his hopes of defending his Tour of Britain title are all but over after the fourth stage.

A three-man breakaway consisting of Dowsett, Matthias Brandle and Tom Stewart were bizarrely afforded an advantage of over nine minutes.

Dowsett also collected 12 bonus seconds on the day for winning two intermediate sprints and finishing runner-up on the stage. The Movistar rider now opens up a 34-second lead over second-placed Michal Kwiatkowski overall, with Italy's Edoardo Zardini in third.

Brandle, meanwhile, claimed a breakaway victory for the second day in succession after reaching an agreement with Dowsett to sprint ahead to the finish line in Hemel Hempstead.