The fourth stage of the Tour of Britain took the riders from Carlisle to Blackpool today. With very spotty weather conditions, the field had to complete 156 kilometers. Mark Cavendish (Sky) decided the sprint from one group in front of Steele von Hoff (Garmin Sharp) and Leigh Howard (Orica Greenedge). Daniel Schorn from Team NetApp sprinted to fifth place. Mark Cavendish took over the leader’s jersey in the general classification. 

Shortly after the start, a six-man group was able to set itself apart and quickly gain itself a lead of over six minutes. The teams with the favorites took over the chase and thus shortened the distance to under two minutes before the last climb. Strong side winds and increases in pace divided the peloton on the way to the coast, 25 kilometers before the finish. A group of 25-30 riders, including NetApp’s Daniel Schorn and Bartosz Huzarski, were first able to catch up with the breakaway riders and then finish the stage among themselves.

“Since our focus remains on the more difficult stages that begin tomorrow, we had to ride carefully and yet save our strength today. We knew that the wind can decide the finale today. It was to be expected that the peloton would divide in the descent from the last climb. With Daniel and Bartosz we were able to send two riders along in this group. Daniel managed to pull out a respectable result and was even able to make up a few spots in the general classification,” Enrico Poitschke commented after the stage.

The fifth stage will ride over 147 kilometers all around Stoke-on-Trent. Situated in the middle of England and having served as the annual stage location since 2008, the city is surrounded by a selective and hilly course. The stage starts with two climbs of the second category and, 30 kilometers before the finish, another climb of the first category must be conquered before the race is decided over the rising and winding home stretch. 

Website of the race