Ireland's Rory Townsend moving well at Tour of Britain

Irish rider Rory Townsend finished ninth on stage three of the Tour of Britain to move into the top ten overall, as Dutchman Olav Kooij continued his perfect start with a third straight win.

Jumbo-Visma rider Kooji - who is tackling the Tour of Britain for the first time - edged a bunched sprint finish to the 154.7km stage from Goole to Beverley in Yorkshire.

Kooij held off the challenge of compatriot Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Britain's Ethan Vernon outside Beverley racecourse to match Edvald Boasson Hagen's achievement of winning three successive stages in the 2009 event.

A three-man combined attack of Saint Piran's Alex Richardson, Harry Birchill and Jack Rootkin-Gray inside the final 40 kilometres had eventually reeled in the breakaway.

Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Britain's Matt Bostock (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) also pushed on before Wout van Aert and the Jumbo-Visma team worked to get Kooij into a position to strike for home.

Townsend, 28, who also competes for Bolton Equities Black Spoke, crossed the line ninth. He's tenth on the general classification.

Kooij leads the GC standings ahead of Van Poppel and Max Kanter (Movistar), with Vernon in fourth.

Wednesday's fourth stage of the Tour of Britain runs over 166.6km from Sherwood Forest to Newark.