Dexter Gardias missed out on a podium by the narrowest of margins as Jack Pullar soared to the king of the mountains prize at the Tour of the Reservoir.
JLT Condor’s Tom Moses won stage two of the Grand Prix Series curtain-raiser, while the overall crown was taken by ONE Pro Cycling’s Tom Stewart.
For the second successive stage, Gardias crossed the line in fourth position. And that meant he missed out on third on general classification through countback alone.
Having finished on the same time as Ian Bibby, the JLT man leapfrogged him on to the podium on the strength of his second place to team-mate Moses on day two.
Pullar had spent much of Sunday’s 133km deciding scrap in the breakaway, which was whittled down from six to three on the gruelling Blanchard loops.
Connor Swift, of Madison Genesis, and JLT Condor’s Graham Briggs kept the BIKE Channel Canyon man company while he swept up the points on the day’s key climbs.
And then with the prize in the bag, Pullar was distanced by his companions as the battle for the overall began hotting up behind.
Gardias, who finished fourth on stage one, joined four team-mates in a 25-man move as the race headed for the final two laps of the Derwent Reservoir.
They swept up Swift and Briggs before Gardias went on the offensive on the first of those circuits with his sights set on the podium.
Four other riders, including Bibby, got across to the Witney man as they fought for every second of advantage on the chase group.
But unfortunately the brave effort did not pay off for Gardias as Moses clinched the stage win from team-mate Bibby and Madison Genesis’ Johnny McEvoy.
The BIKE Channel Canyon man crossed the line a second behind Bibby. And that second proved all-important as the duo finished on the same time in the overall standings.
Stage one winner Karol Domagalski was runner-up to fellow ONE Pro rider Stewart, with Bibby leapfrogging Gardias into third, courtesy of his second place on the stage.
Max Stedman was 14th on the second stage, finishing 25 seconds adrift of Moses, and was 23rd in the overall, with Rob Partridge 31st in the final reckoning. Click here for the full result, courtesy of Velo UK.