Canterbury cyclist Kristian House admitted the force of Team Columbia-HTC was a bridge too far for his Rapha Condor outfit at the Tour of Britain despite his tenth-place finishing overall.

The 29-year-old was overshadowed throughout the eight-stage Tour by Team Columbia rider Edvald Boasson Hagen who claimed the overall title and points crown with ease after securing four straight wins.

House sat in the top 20 four times including three 14 place finishes but tired towards the finale ending stage seven in Devon in 37 and the 92km criterium in London in 29.

The Rapha Condor rider’s consistency was rewarded with a place in the top ten in the general classification – but House admitted the performance of Norwegian Boasson Hagen left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“It was a bit of a disappointing week for me personally and a lot of the races didn’t go exactly as I would’ve liked,” said House.

“Team Colombia and Edvald were so strong that they were able to let the breakaway go and bring it back in all week so that was very frustrating.

“The team was giving it a huge go all week – we had some very good moments and managed to show everyone what we could do but just not enough to get a win.

“Saying that is always great to ride around on home soil – one of the highlights has to be the crowd – they were brilliant all week and made it a really special event.”

Italian Michele Merlo brought the eight-day Tour to a close on the streets of London claiming his first stage victory holding off Spain’s Koldo Fernandez and Australian Chris Sutton during a sprint finish.

House will have little time to dwell on his efforts on home soil with the Tour of Tasmania and Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Australia all pencilled in for the coming weeks.

And the Rapha Condor rider has vowed to put his Tour of Britain disappointment to one side and finish his 2009 season on a high Down Under.

“Now I just want to look forward because there is still plenty of racing left for the team and I in Australia,” said British National Road Race champion House.

“It’s a busy end to the season but I’m really looking forward to it and feeling very good in myself so hopefully I can go out there and finish on a bit of a high.”

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/