THERE was bitter disappointment for Kent's Kristian House in the last but one stage of the Tour of Britain from Rochester to Canterbury on Saturday.

House, from Aylesham, representing the Recycling team, complained that the leading teams had refused to make the stage a proper race, in protest against perceived traffic problems and organisational difficulties.

He said: "Canterbury is my home town and I really wanted to race. I had hundreds of people here to support me, but most of the other riders didn't want to race.

"I was torn between my team manager's instruction to race and the unwritten law in the peloton that you stick together.

"Nobody wanted to upset the big teams. But then at the end there was a sprint finish."

House said that whenever he had tried to attack other riders caught him up and he was given verbal abuse.

In the end, a dramatic sprint finish brought victory for Quickstep rider Francesco Chicchi, from Italy.

He edged out Britain's Mark Cavendish of the T-Mobile team, whose second place gave him the overall lead in the Tour's points competition, with Dutchman Aart Vierhouten, of the Skil-Simano team third.

The riders set off from Rochester Castle at around 10.30am for the 96-mile fifth stage of the race. And Chicchi was first across the finish line in Rheims Way, Canterbury, shortly before 4pm.

There was a 26-minute delay when the riders took a wrong turn during the procession lap in Rochester, which began the controversy.

The route took the competitors through Paddock Wood, Goudhurst, Tenterden, Hythe and Dover.

Crowds had lined the route though Canterbury city centre to welcome the riders and after the finish council leader Cllr Harry Cragg said he thought it had been a fantastic afternoon.

"I felt we did the riders proud," he said. "There was a tremendous atmosphere and people really seemed to enjoy themselves."