Italy's Zardini leads Tour of Britain

London (AFP) - Italy's Edoardo Zardini came out on top in a gruelling climb in Wales to win both the third stage and take the leader's yellow jersey in the Tour of Britain on Tuesday.

Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) had gone ahead of Zardini (Bardiani-CSF) as the pair neared the summit before the Italian broke clear to win by nine seconds.

Roche eventually finished in third place with Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in second place.

Dylan Teuns of Belgium (BMC Racing Team) was fourth, while defending champion and former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) fifth, 14 seconds back.

Zardini is now 13 seconds clear of second-placed Kwiatkowski in the overall standings.

There are five days of the race remaining, with Wednesday's 184.6km stage taking the riders from Worcester in the English Midlands to the south-west coastal city of Bristol.