Team Columbia’s Edvald Boasson Hagen snatched stage victory at the Tour of Britain on Wednesday with a perfectly-timed late surge to the line.

The 21 year-old Norwegian was part of the ten-rider break that dominated the 156km stage from Worcester to Stoke on Trent and then jumped away in the final five hundred metres to catch late attacker Giairo Ermeti. The two were shoulder to shoulder in the final corner, with Boasson Hagen disadvantaged on the outside, but he still had the speed to get to the line first and win.

Boasson Hagen is one of the talented rising stars at Team Columbia. Like Mark Cavendish, Tony Martin and Gerald Ciolek, he has won several important races and shown his huge potential as both a sprinter and time trialist. He won a stage at the Criterium International race in the spring, the GP Denain one-day race in France and recently took a stage at the Eneco Tour. He is also Norwegian national time trial champion.

I jumped across to Ermeti with about 300 metres to go, just before the last roundabout. Nobody wanted to go, so I went for it. It was close but I just about won it,” Boasson Hagen said with a satisfied smile after being congratulated by his team mates at the finish.

Brian Holm kept telling me over the radio that the bunch was getting closer and closer, so I knew I had to attack. I went when I heard Roger Hammond scream into his radio from behind in the peloton. It was a great example of how we work well together and how close we all are in this team. I have to thank Roger for watching out for me.”

I lost the chance of overall victory yesterday because I missed the key split, so this makes up for it a little bit. I’m riding the Tour of Britain as build-up to the world championships and it’s great training.”

The Tour of Britain continues until Sunday. Boasson Hagen and other riders in Team Columbia will be chasing further stage wins, starting with Thursday’s hilly finish in Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire.