Tour of Britain 2019: Van der Poels wins in Kendal to take race lead

Mathieu van der Poel powers to victory on the steep Beast Banks finish in Kendal. He strikes on the early slopes to finish 3 seconds ahead of Jasper de Buyst and Simon Clarke. The Dutchman is the new race leader, 1 second ahead of Matteo Trentin. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 4th stage Tour of Britain 2019

1. Mathieu van der Poel (nld)
2. Jasper De Buyst (bel) + 0.03
3. Simon Clarke (aus) s.t.
4. Ben Swift (gbr) s.t.
5. Amund Grøndahl Jansen (nor) s.t.
6. Tom Van Asbroeck (bel) s.t.
7. Xandro Meurisse (bel) s.t.
8. Ben Hermans (bel) s.t.
9. Matteo Trentin (ita) s.t.
10. Tiesj Benoot (bel) s.t.

GC after stage 4
1. Mathieu van der Poel (nld)
2. Matteo Trentin (ita) + 0.01
3. Jasper De Buyst (bel) + 0.07
4. Simon Clarke (aus) + 0.14
5. Mike Teunissen (nld) + 0.15
6. Ben Swift (gbr) + 0.19
7. Amund Grøndahl Jansen (nor) s.t.
8. Thomas Sprengers (bel) s.t.
9. Nils Politt (ger) s.t.
10. Andrey Amador (crc) s.t.

Race report
Dylan van Baarle opens up a gap after 10 kilometres and Axel Domont joins him straight away, while Eddie Dunbar bridges across on the lower slopes of Snods Edge. With two Ineos riders on board the leaders widens the gap to more than 3 minutes.

First in, first out. Dunbar drops back on an uphill with 65 kilometres remaining. Domont can’t follow Van Baarle’s pace either.

The Dutchman is reeled in on the Gawthorp climb with 36 kilometres remaining. A group of fifteen pushes on before more riders bridge across. All GC favourites are at the front.

Tony Gallopin strikes 16 kilometres before the line. Ben Hermans and James Shaw track him down to open up a gap of 25 seconds. The three hit the Beast Banks with a small lead and when Mathieu van der Poel strikes he strikes hard. Instantly, he opens a gap of a few metres and he powers on to win the race with 3 seconds lead.

Combined with the time bonus of 10 seconds Van der Poel replaces Matteo Trentin, who gained 1 second in an intermediate sprint, as the overall race leader.

Another interesting read: route 4th stage 2019 Tour of Britain.