Cees Bol wins the 4th stage of the Tour of Britain and takes his first victory since... Tour of Britain (2022)

Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Britain on Saturday in Leyburn. One day after team leader Olav Kooij, the rider from North Holland proved himself the better of Tim Wellens after a long day in the lead group.

With Lewis Askey (NSN) in the lead, the peloton lined up at the start of the hilly fourth stage of the Tour of Britain. The stage took us to Yorkshire, where conditions can often be rough on the climbs and descents. That raised high hopes for an exciting stage.

The race got underway right from the start. Biathlete Emilien Jacquelin (Decathlon CMA CGM) was unfortunately involved in a crash, but the riders at the front weren’t going to wait, of course. A breakaway group had already formed, including local hero Ben Swift (Netcompany INEOS), Xandro Meurisse (Pinarello-Q36.5), and Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM), who had built up a decent lead.

Due to the succession of short climbs, the pace in the main group never let up, prompting Tim Wellens to launch a breakaway. The Belgian rider from UAE Emirates-XRG rode in one go toward and past the breakaway group, after which Bol was the only one able to latch on. Together, they built a lead of one and a half minutes over the peloton, where the other teams were riding.

They did close in on the finish line, but not close enough: Bol thus claimed his first victory in four years—his previous one, coincidentally, was also in the Tour of Britain.