Stage 4 embarks from Gateshead to travel across the Pennines and through the Yorkshire Dales, where the Worlds Championships will be played out in September. The Tour of Britain doesn’t navigate the same roads in the Dales though. Instead, the riders travel from east to west for one of the most – if not, the demanding stage of this edition of the Tour of Britain.
Following the start in Gateshead, just south of Newcastle on the other side of the River Tyne, the race ventures into the Pennines. As there is hardly one metre on the flat, the route accumulates 3,000 metres of climbing with Snods Edge (at kilometre 37.5), Bollihope Common (at kilometre 58) and Gawthorp (at kilometre 138) standing out.
Obviously, a lot of riders will suffer along the way, while the finale is going to hurt all the more. The stage finish is on the 500 metres, 11% average climb of Beast Banks in Kendal. The South Lakeland town hosted the Tour of Britain three times before.
The last visit was in 2016, when Belgium’s Julien Vermote outgunned Stephen Cummings on the punchy ramp. Witnessed by 10,000 spectators, Daniel Martin climbed to third place, almost 1 minute down on the two attackers.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprints (at kilometre 12.5, at kilometre 105.9, and at kilometre 127.9) come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Another interesting read: results/race report 4th stage 2019 Tour of Britain.
The 4th stage of the Tour of Britain starts at 11.00 and the race is expected to finish around 15.20 – both are local times (BST).
Tour of Britain 2019 stage 4: route, profiles, more
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