Lorena Wiebes survives British hills to claim third Tour of Britain Women stage win

Lorena Wiebes won Stage 4 of the Tour of Britain Women. The SD Worx-Protime rider claimed her third victory in four days after an extremely demanding day in the hills, where she was put under serious pressure. Wiebes refused to crack, even when she was left to fend for herself, before ruthlessly finishing the job in the sprint.

Two sprint opportunities, two wins for Wiebes over the opening days of the Tour of Britain Women. The Dutch star was comfortably the strongest rider in the first two stages, but Kim Le Court turned the tables in the hilly third stage. The Mauritian AG Insurance-Soudal rider immediately took over the leader's jersey from Wiebes.

Le Court therefore had that jersey to defend in Stage 4, a 138-kilometre route that looked relatively flat at first glance but still contained several nasty hills. And given the aggressive racing during the opening three stages, there was every reason to expect plenty of attacks. That was not really the case at the start, however, as young Belgian Fleur Moors (Lidl-Trek) was the only rider eager to get up the road and set off alone.

Moors spent a long, very long time out in front. After around 60 kilometres of racing, Juliana Londoño (Picnic PostNL) and Alma Moller Rasmussen (Hitec Products - Fluid Control) also went on the attack, but they were brought back not long afterwards. Le Court's team had begun to increase the pace in the peloton. Was that a sign of what was still to come?

Dixylene Miermont (Picnic PostNL) and Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility) did successfully bridge across to Moors. The trio entered the hilly finale with a lead of around 1 minute and 30 seconds and approximately 30 kilometres remaining. That was when FDJ-SUEZ began driving the pace for mountains classification leader Lauren Dickson. The peloton was quickly reduced in size, and the selection would become even more severe shortly afterwards.

This time, however, it happened because of a strange crash while climbing. Nobody appeared to be seriously hurt, but not everyone was able to immediately make it back. The remaining group of favourites caught the leaders, with Wiebes still safely among them. Dickson and Mischa Bredewold, among others, had gone down and found themselves chasing behind. They eventually returned, after which Bredewold was the rider who really opened up the battle among the favourites.

She clearly did not appear to be suffering from the crash and pushed hard on the front. Bredewold could not get away, after which a succession of riders tried their luck. Liane Lippert (Movistar) did manage to open a gap, but race leader Le Court immediately jumped onto her wheel. Le Court had no reason to contribute to the move, and the pair were eventually caught. It remained a thrilling finale, with a strong group eventually managing to break clear.

Wiebes, Lippert and Le Court were all there, alongside Josie Nelson (Picnic PostNL), Caroline Andersson (Liv AlUla Jayco), Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) and Femke de Vries (Visma | Lease a Bike). A small chasing group, which included Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ), later made contact as well. More attacks followed, but nobody was capable of getting rid of Wiebes. Once she reached the sprint, there was little doubt about the outcome: the Dutchwoman powered clear to take her third victory of the race with ease.

1. Lorena Wiebes
2. Liane Lippert
3. Kim le Court