Tour of Britain: Gaviria wins stage 4

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.

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