France’s Paul Magnier made it three stage wins on this year’s Tour of Britain with victory on day five in Northampton.

The Soudal Quick-Step rider won the opening stage in Kelso before triumphing in day four’s Derby to Newark ride.

The 20-year-old sealed a hat-trick of stage wins on the 149.6km loop of Northampton when he timed his move to perfection against Ethan Vernon, who finished second in a sprint for the line.

Uno-X Mobility rider Erlend Blikra finished third.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” said Magnier.

“It was really hard to catch the break – Remco [Evenepoel] did everything, he’s a super-fast rider as you know. Julian [Alaphilippe] brought me every time to the front and I saved a lot of energy there, and in the end I did my best sprint for the victory.”

Magnier’s victory means he can now equal the record of winning four individual stages in the same Tour of Britain when the event finishes on Sunday with a 158km ride between Lowestoft and Felixstowe.

“Why not?” said Magnier.

“We’ll try, for sure. It’s already super nice to take three victories, but for sure tomorrow we’ll try to go again.”

In the general classification standings, Britain’s Stevie Williams maintains a 16-second lead over Oscar Onley, while Mark Donovan is 40 seconds off the pace in third.