Photo finish in Burgos: Matthew Brennan pips Laurence Pithie for second stage win

Matthew Brennan has won stage four of the Vuelta a Burgos. The British Visma | Lease a Bike rider proved the strongest in the bunch sprint, narrowly beating Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). A photo finish was needed to separate the pair, but Brennan was eventually confirmed as the winner, adding a second victory in the Spanish stage race to his palmarès.

The Vuelta a Burgos had already been a demanding race. After Brennan won the opening stage, stages two and three belonged to the general classification contenders. Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS) took victory on Wednesday, before Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) knocked the Briton off the top of the standings a day later with a stage-and-leader's-jersey double. Friday offered the peloton a slightly easier assignment.

But there was still no shortage of climbing, with almost 2,000 metres of elevation gain on the route. The fast men were hoping for another opportunity, while the attackers were also eager to test their luck. Not many were interested in the early breakaway, however: only Josh Burnett (Burgos Burpellet BH), Javier Ibáñez and Nil Aguilera (both Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) were prepared to commit from the start. The biggest talking point of the day was instead the disqualification of Gianni Moscon.

The Italian, who has previously been involved in disciplinary incidents in the peloton, was removed from the race for what officials described as improper conduct towards other riders. Exactly what happened remains unclear, but the jury decided the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider's behaviour warranted a yellow card and disqualification.

For the peloton, it was a welcome change to have a relatively calm day. The bunch was able to keep the three escapees under control without taking too many risks, and the leaders were never allowed to build a particularly significant advantage. Inside the final 50 kilometres, the break was reduced to two when Aguilera could no longer follow his companions. By then, their advantage had already fallen to around two minutes.

Onley also managed to improve his position during the stage by picking up a bonus second, moving to within seven seconds of race leader Gall. Ibáñez then decided to continue alone at the front and held on for a little longer, but his resistance finally ended with around 20 kilometres remaining. A complete peloton therefore entered the finale together. The closing kilometres were not especially difficult, although there were still several gently rising sections that made positioning important.

Even so, everything pointed towards a bunch sprint. Visma | Lease a Bike knew they had arguably the leading favourite in Brennan and worked to put their British sprinter in the ideal position. Owain Doull played an important role in delivering his teammate towards the front before Brennan launched his sprint. Pithie came desperately close alongside him, and the naked eye could not separate the pair at the line. The photo finish ultimately confirmed Brennan as the winner, giving him his second stage victory of this year's Vuelta a Burgos, with Pithie forced to settle for second place.

1. Matthew Brennan
2. Davide Donati "
3. David Gonzalez "