Stage four of the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain saw the riders cover 138.5 kilometres from Derby to Newark-on-Trent, setting the stage for another sprint finish. As the peloton rolled out from Derby, a flurry of early attacks set the tone, with Ben Swift of Ineos Grenadiers the first to make a solo move. He quickly gained over 40 seconds, but before long, Rowan Baker, Liam OโBrien, and Scott McGill bridged the gap, forming a breakaway quartet.
Swift eventually dropped back to the peloton to assist his teammates, leaving the trio up front to try and maintain their advantage. The peloton, led by Soudal Quick-Step and Israel Premier Tech, seemed content to let them stay away, holding the gap between 1:30 and 2:30 minutes for much of the race. With 30 kilometres remaining, OโBrien launched an attack, briefly pushing the gap back to 38 seconds. He managed to take maximum points at the intermediate sprint, but his breakaway was short-lived.
As the peloton reeled in the breakaway with 17 kilometres to go, attacks began to fly off the front. Even Remco Evenepoel was involved in shutting down several attempts to break free. Ethan Hayter of Ineos Grenadiers made what looked like a dangerous move with 10 kilometres left, but Evenepoel once again neutralised the threat, ensuring that the stage would come down to a sprint.
In the final kilometres, Uno-X Mobility took control, but Soudal Quick-Step executed a perfect lead-out for their sprinter Paul Magnier. Julian Alaphilippe delivered Magnier into the ideal position with 200 metres to go. Ethan Vernon of Israel Premier Tech launched his sprint first, attempting to catch Magnier off guard, but the Frenchman had the power to come around him and secure his second stage victory of the race.
Magnier praised his team after the finish, saying, “It’s been very niceโwe put in a strong team performance today. I want to thank Martin Svrฤek in the headwind all day and then all my other teammates worked to make it a bunch race and keep me in the front, which helped me to save my legs for the last few hundred metres. I did a really nice sprint so I can thank my team. I’m really happy to take the victory today.”
Vernon crossed the line in second place, narrowly beating Erlend Blikra for third. The result means Magnier now leads the points classification, adding the red jersey to his impressive list of accomplishments at this yearโs Tour.
Meanwhile, race leader Stevie Williams retained his 16-second overall lead over Oscar Onley. Williams commented on the fast pace in the final kilometres, saying, “It was tough going again today. The last 10k was incredibly fast. There was a lot of jumping, a lot of moving around so I’m really happy to keep hold of the jersey.”
Tomorrow’s penultimate stage in West Northamptonshire promises more action as the race continues.
2024 Tour of Britain Stage 4 result
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Main photo credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
