Tour of Britain 2013 - Stage 4
Stage 4 of the 2013 Tour of Britain was a 191 kilometre ride from Stoke-On-Trent to Llanberis. The weather finally let up as the race entered Wales, and it was a nice dry day for the peloton. It was classed as a hilly stage, and it was one that was predicted to be touch and go in terms of whether a breakaway would stay away.
A break of eleven riders did go clear after 17.5 kilometres of racing, and remarkably it was eleven different teams who were represented. Mike Northey (Node 4-Giordana), Iljo Keisse (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling), Marco Canola (Bardiani Valvole), Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun), Angel Madrazo (Movistar), Alistair Slater (Great Britain), Aaron Gate (An Post-Chain Reaction), Ian Wilkinson (UK Youth), Matthias Krizek (Cannondale) and Tom Scully (Raleigh) were the men who got away, and soon built up a considerable advantage.
The intermediate sprints on the stage were a two-horse battle between Aaron Gate and Tom Scully, with Gate picking up enough points to regain the sprints jersey. The King of the Mountains points were swept up by Angel Madrazo, who seems determined to take the green polka dot jersey all the way to London.
As the stage wore on, it was clear that Sky Procycling, the team of race leader Sir Bradley Wiggins, were the only team who were interested in chasing. Mark Cavendish's Omega Pharma-Quickstep team had a very capable rider in the break in the form of Iljo Keisse, so were happy whichever way the stage went. The gap didn't seem to be coming down quick enough for the peloton to get organised for a bunch sprint, and approaching the last climb the break's advantage was still close to two minutes.
However, on the last climb, Dan Martin attacked, who was quickly followed by Nairo Quintana and then Sir Bradley Wiggins. This injection of pace from Garmin-Sharp's Irishman brought the gap down, and sent the break into disarray as they sensed the peloton closing in. Martin and Quintana were eventually subdued, but after cresting the climb Martin's teammate Jack Bauer jumped clear, hoping to bridge the gap to the break.
The break meanwhile had started attacking each other as they felt the peloton gaining on them. A number of digs were slowly brought back by the other members of the move, and their advantage began to tumble. Bauer was reeled in, and with two kilometres to go, the catch was nearly made.
As the race went under the one kilometre banner they were more or less all together, with Cavendish near the front of the peloton, a place he had remained throughout the day. Bardiani-Valvole had a strong leadout, and Alessandro Petacchi managed to drop Cavendish off on their wheel. When Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) started his sprint Cavendish followed, and got the better of the Italian, also beating Elia Viviani and Steele Von Hoff.
So, as Cavendish won the stage, Sir Bradley Wiggins finished safely in the bunch to ensure he kept his gold jersey for another day, tomorrow is the stage to Caerphilly Mountain, an infamous, tricky day that could throw up some surprises.