Hayles upstages Olympic heroes

Rob Hayles has upstaged Great Britain's Olympic cycling heroes at the opening Tour of Britain stage in London.

The 35-year-old Hampshire rider finished the 53-mile stage in second, beating off competition from Sweden's Magnus Backstedt, as Italian Alessandro Petacchi - recently returned form a 12-month drugs ban - took the first yellow jersey.

Fellow Italian Danilo Di Luca led for most of the London stage, which took in the capital's landmarks and included a King of the Mountains stage at Tower Hill, but paid the price of going out too hard with Hayles storming past him late on to pick up 14 points.

Several British Olympians turned out for a victory lap in the capital with double gold-medallist Bradley Wiggins' mind clearly elsewhere as he finished two places from last in 93rd.

Beijing bronze medallist Chris Newton followed suit in 75th while Roger Hammond - who failed to finish the road race in Beijing - restored Team GB respectability coming home in sixth.

But Hayles, who had been angered when he was dropped from the British team for the Olympics, is taking one stage at a time with over 600 miles still to go before the finish in Liverpool next Sunday.

He said: "I'm really happy with the race, I felt like I rode really well and I felt really good. It was a tough race and there was a hugely talented group of riders out there."

The Tour of Britain is Petacchi's first since his ban for the excessive use of the asthma drug Salbutamol ended on August 31.

The 34-year-old sprinting great was deemed not to have used the drug to gain a competitive advantage but was suspended for a year because he was well over the permitted limit.

Elsewhere, last year's highest-ranked Briton Evan Oliphant will be hoping to banish his London disappointment when the tour moves to Milton Keynes on Monday after recording a 35th first stage finish.

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