Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

September 06, 2017

Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 4 – Mansfield – Newark-on-Trent : 165 km

The 2017 Tour of Britain is a eight-stage men’s professional road cycling race. It is the fourteenth running of the modern version of the Tour of Britain and the 77th British tour in total. The race starts on 3 September in Edinburgh and finishes on 10 September in Cardiff. The race is part of the 2017 UCI Europe Tour.

Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors) put the disappointment of the first three stage of the Tour of Britain behind him to edge to victory on stage four in Newark-On-Trent. Elia Viviani (Sky) took second, also regaining the race lead, while Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) was third.

It was yet another close finish, which is no surprise considering the sprint talent on show at the race. The breakaway had managed to hold on until the 3km mark, which was more out of the ordinary.

In the end, though, it was the familiar sight of the sprinter’s teams battling supremacy. Sky, Katusha, Dimension Data, Orica-Scott were among those trading places as the finish neared, but it was Quick-Step Floors who emerged as the most organised and crucially, best-timed outfit.

Zdenek Štybar was the first on the front, followed by expert lead-out man Maximiliano Richeze, who peeled off with 100 metres to go. Gaviria’s team had given him the head start needed to hang on and fend off the fast-approaching Elia Viviani on the line.

“Today was a beautiful day for me and for the team because they really helped today,” Gaviria said at the post-stage press conference. “This was my first win since the Giro because I had an injury on my left leg, so to come back and win was very good.”

“The difference [between today and the first three stages] was that I had better legs today,” he added, jokingly.

“When I actually achieve what I set out to do, which is come here to win, I’m relieved because it’s what I’ve achieved after all the hard work I’ve been doing since the injury,” he said, in reference to the hematoma he had sustained in a July training mishap.

How it unfolded

A rainy start in Mansfield meant it was also a fast one for the peloton, and subsequently something of a battle for the breakaway of the day to establish a consistent lead. After 13km a five-man group had earned a small gap, with the group consisting of Mark McNally (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Jacob Scott (AnPost-Chain Reaction), Alistair Slater (JLT-Condor) and the Madison-Genesis teammates Alexandre Blain and Richard Handley.

Five kilometres later, James Lowsley-Williams (Bike Channel-Canyon) and Bryan Lewis (Cylance Pro Cycling) had also attacked from the peloton, languishing around a minute behind the break for almost 30km. However, at that point their adventure came to an end as the UCI Commissaires disqualified both riders from the race; the pair had used the pavement to move up the peloton as they launched their attack.

For much of the day, the break’s advantage fluctuated at around the 3:30 mark, while McNally swept up the three sprint points of the day, leaving him level with Graham Briggs, who held on to the red jersey on countback.

Orica-Scott, Katusha and Dimension Data kept things under control at the front of the peloton, though there was some drama just before the day’s only climb as several riders ran wide into a parked car. Silvan Dillier (BMC) and Michael Hepburn (Orica-Scott) were among those held up, while Brent Bookwalter (BMC) was forced to abandon the race.

On the climb itself, 40km from the finish, Scott outmaneuvered Slater, who had attacked in an attempt to preserve JLT teammate Briggs’ mountain classification lead. The AnPost-Chain Reaction man wears the black jersey tomorrow, albeit with a slim one-point lead.

In a departure from the previous stage finishes, which had seen the peloton absorb the breakaway slightly early, the situation was touch-and-go coming into the final 20km. The leaders still enjoyed a two-minute gap, while 10km later it had been cut in half by a peloton led by Dimension Data, Sky, Orica-Scott, LottoNL-Jumbo, and Katusha.

The gap continued to melt away as the kilometres passed, and the breakaway’s dream finally died 3km from the end of the stage. A multitude of teams took to the front, with all the major sprinters represented in the battle for those vital lead positions.

Come the all-important final 300 metres, Quick-Step Floors had wrested control with three riders at the front. All that remained was for their Colombian sprint star to finish the job.

Results :
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 3:43:31
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
4 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
5 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
6 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
7 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
8 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
11 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
12 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor
13 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
14 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
15 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott
16 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
17 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling
18 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain
19 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
20 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
21 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
22 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
23 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
24 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
25 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
26 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
27 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
28 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
30 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
31 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
32 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
33 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
34 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
35 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
36 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
37 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
38 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
39 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling
40 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
41 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
42 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
43 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
44 Chris Opie (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
45 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
46 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain
47 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling
48 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
49 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
50 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
51 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
52 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
53 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
54 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
55 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
56 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott
57 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
58 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
59 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
60 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
61 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
62 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
63 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
64 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
65 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
66 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
67 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
68 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
69 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
70 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
71 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
72 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
73 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
74 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
75 James Knox (GBr) Great Britain
76 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction
77 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling
78 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
79 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling
80 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
81 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis
82 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling
83 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling
84 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
85 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
86 Adam Hartley (GBr) Great Britain
87 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor
88 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
89 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
90 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
91 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
92 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data
93 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
94 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
95 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis
96 Damien Shaw (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
97 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
98 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor
99 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
100 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal
101 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:36
102 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:01:20
103 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
104 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain 0:01:25
105 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:01:48
106 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:01:53
107 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
108 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
109 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain
110 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
111 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling
112 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
113 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:02:08
114 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:04:24
DSQ James Lowsley-Williams (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
DSQ Bryan Lewis (USA) Cylance Cycling
DNF Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 17:38:05
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott
3 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:06
4 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:00:07
5 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:12
6 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:00:14
7 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:15
8 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling
9 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:18
10 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:00:19
11 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:20
12 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
13 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor
14 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
15 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
16 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain
17 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
18 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
19 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
20 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
21 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
22 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
23 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
24 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
25 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
26 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
27 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
28 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
29 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
30 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
31 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling
32 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
33 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
34 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
35 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
36 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
37 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
38 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
39 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
40 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
41 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
42 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
43 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
44 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
45 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
46 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
47 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
48 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
49 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
50 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor
51 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
53 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
54 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
55 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
56 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
57 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
58 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
59 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
60 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
61 James Knox (GBr) Great Britain
62 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
63 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain 0:00:35
64 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:39
65 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:04
66 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:08
67 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling 0:02:10
68 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction
69 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling
70 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott 0:02:45
71 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:03:01
72 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
73 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:03:15
74 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data
75 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
76 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:03:17
77 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:03:42
78 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:04:33
79 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:04:44
80 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:05:04
81 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:06:46
82 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
83 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
84 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:16
85 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:07:34
86 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
87 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:07:37
88 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:07:48
89 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis
90 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:51
91 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
92 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
93 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling
94 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
95 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis
96 Damien Shaw (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
97 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:08:51
98 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:08:55
99 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:09:36
100 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain 0:09:54
101 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:10:43
102 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:10:49
103 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:12:18
104 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:12:32
105 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:12:44
106 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:12:54
107 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:12:55
108 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:14:17
109 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:15:07
110 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:15:23
111 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling
112 Chris Opie (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:16:25
113 Adam Hartley (GBr) Great Britain 0:17:23
114 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:29:40