Australian Ewan wins London cycling finale

Australia's Caleb Ewan won the eighth and final stage of the Tour of Britain around the streets of London's West End as France's Julian Alaphilippe claimed overall victory.

After 14 laps of a circuit taking in the iconic landmarks of Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, Ewan timed his sprint to perfection as the 77km eighth and final stage finished in a bunch sprint.

Ewan, riding for Australian team Mitchelton-Scott, crossed ahead of Colombian Fernando Gaviria (QuickStep-Floors) and Germany Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal).

Mitchelton-Scott's riders were in formation towards the front end of the strung out peloton before another Australian, stage two winner Cameron Meyer, helped move Ewan up to the front with just 1.5km remaining.

Mitchelton-Scott's Roger Kluge then took over and powered down the final straight to allow Ewan to launch his winning burst, making it a stage victory in each of the past three editions of the British race for the 24-year-old.

"This year hasn't been great for me so I really wanted to finish off with a good result," Ewan said.

"I was so motivated to win this stage and I am just happy I had the strength and legs in the end.

"It was really hectic in the end and I was just lucky my team put me in perfect position. To finish off with a win means a lot to me and it gives me a bit of confidence."

Meyer finished 11th overall in the general classification with fellow Australian Chris Hamilton, riding for Team Sunweb, ninth.

Alaphilippe protected his 17-second lead on Saturday's penultimate stage and completed victory ahead of Holland's Wout Poels (Team Sky) and Slovenia's green jersey leader Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) completing the podium.

Kiwi cyclist Patrick Bevin, riding for BMC Racing, finished fourth overall, 42 seconds behind Alaphilippe after his 10th place in the final stage.

Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas was 36th and four-time Tour yellow jersey winner Chris Froome was 85th.