Bristol-based Tom Southam used home advantage to produce a solid finish at stage six of the Tour of Britain – but insists there is still more to come.

The 28-year-old Rapha Condor star crossed the line in 51st place along with the peleton after a gruelling 183.7km race from Frome to Bideford.

It maintains Southam's 31st place standing in the general classification and with another 'home' leg from Hatherleigh to Yeovil today Southam has vowed to continue climbing the rankings.

"I felt really good out there and I think a lot of riders thought it was going to be easier than it was," said Southam.

"We knew the track pretty well as a team because we've ridden it a good few times and I'm only from up the road.

"It was long and there were some really tough climbs but I felt I managed to come through it well.

"The crowds and the weather made it a really good stage and it's so good to see so many people out there supporting the tour."

Southam's Rapha Condor team-mate Simon Richardson provided able support as he followed him home in 52nd place.

Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed his fourth consecutive stage win on this year's event as the Norwegian retained the yellow jersey.

And Richardson insists Hagen and his Columbia team mates will take some beating over the final two stages of the tour.

"It was pretty hard going from the off and the Colombia boys managed to control the race really well and did exactly what they were looking to do," he said.

"But it was a beautiful days racing and I had a really good time riding."

Boasson Hagen, who last week agreed to move from Team Columbia-HTC to Team Sky in 2010, won a sprint to the line ahead of Germany's Martin Reimer (Cervelo Test Team) and third-placed Britain Russell Downing (CandiTV-Marshall's Pasta), who will also ride for Sky next year.

It was the world number three's seventh career victory in the Tour of Britain.

Boasson Hagen took the yellow jersey from Kai Reus (Rabobank) after stage five in Stoke and today's 159.7km seventh stage is likely to be the peleton's last opportunity to overhaul his lead.

Dutchman Reus is second in the standings, with Downing the leading Briton in fifth, 35 seconds adrift heading into the penultimate day.

The race concludes with a 92.5km stage in London on Saturday.

The Tour of Britain is the UK's biggest free to attend sporting event, attracting over a million spectators per year to towns, cities and communities across the country – for further information please visit – www.tourofbritain.co.uk

Leading final positions after Stage 6 (Frome – Bideford, 183.7km): 1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia – HTC 4hrs 5mins 20secs, 2 Martin Reimer (Ger) Cervelo Test Team, 3 Russell Downing (Gbr) Candi TV- Pinarello RT, 4 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 5 Pierpaolo De Negri (Ita) ISD-Neri, 6 Michele Merlo (Ita) Barloworld, 7 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Garmin – Slipstream, 8 Reinier Honig (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, 9 Alan Marangoni (Ita) CSF Group – Navigare, 10 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Cervelo Test Team.

General classification after Stage 6: 1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia – HTC 22hrs 17mins 17secs, 2 Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank at 0.19, 3 Martin Reimer (Ger) Cervelo Test Team at 0.21, 4 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Garmin - Slipstream at 0.24, 5 Russell Downing (Gbr) Candi TV- Pinarello RT at 0.35, 6 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Barloworld at 0.36, 7 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel at 0.40, 8 Simon Clarke (Aus) ISD-Neri at same time, 9 Reinier Honig (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team at 0.42, 10 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Cervelo Test Team at same time.