Sutton, the nephew of British track cycling coach Shane, held off Barloworld's Michel Merlo and home riders Ben Swift and Russell Downing following a 172 kilometres stage from Scunthorpe.

Instrumental in Sutton's victory was his Garmin Slipstream team-mate Bradley Wiggins, Britain's triple Olympic gold medallist, who had finished fourth in the Tour de France earlier this summer.

Sutton, who was third in last year's second stage in Newbury, said: "This is probably the highlight of my career so far - I came close last year to winning a few stages so to do it this year is fantastic.

"The team is on a bit of a roll at the moment and it's great to be up there and win it for everyone.

"Bradley led for me but it was a real team effort and when it got to the end then it was up to me to finish it off."

Tomorrow's second stage the riders 153.3km from Darlington to Newcastle-Gateshead, starting at 10.35am, with the finish around 2.15pm.