Swift pipped on the line in Spain

The Team Sky sprinter was agonisingly close to victory in stage 18 at Valladolid, the longest in the tour.

Italian Daniele Bennati was triumphant after going head to head with the man who started his racing career at Rother Valley.

Swift was disappointed not to reward his team-mates with a win.

He said: “The team was fantastic once again and it’s just a shame that I couldn’t get that result for them.”

“We definitely deserve something from this race because of the way we’ve been riding together throughout the entire three weeks. It’s a real shame.”

The youngster said he had given everything he could in the sprint.

“I could probably have closed the door a bit more on Bennati, but as he was near the barriers that might have been a bit unsporting.”

“I went as hard as I could though and was just pipped at the line.”

“It was super close but I knew within a split second that I’d lost.”

Swift ended the tour on Sunday in 11th place in the points classification.