Tour of Britain 2024 Stage 4

September 6, 2024 The fourth stage will likely end in a bunch sprint as the route goes through Nottinghamshire for just under 140KM on predominantly flat roads. The wind was howling and would turn into a tail wind in the last 30KM. Three riders went on the attack including Scott McGill of Project Echelon, Liam O'Brien of Lidl-Trek Future Racing and of Rowan Baker Saint Piran. They made it to the tailwind section but their gap was down to 20 seconds from 2 minutes they had all day. O'Brien was the last man standing from the break before a bonus second sprint with 18KM to go which meant 2 and 1 seconds were available to riders in the bunch. Three riders were tied at 41 seconds off GC in third place and it was Mark Donovan of Q36.5 who grabbed 1 second to move into sole ownership of third overall. Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quickstep took advantage of a moment of disorganization after the sprint to attack. No one came with him however and Israel-Premier Tech shut the move down quickly. Ineos, Uno-X Mobility, Team GB and Q36.5 tried on a number of occasions to break the race up in the final 15KM but it was destined to be a bunch sprint. In the final KM, Uno-X Mobility led but just like yesterday, it was too early. They got jumped by Ethan Vernon of Israel-Premier Tech. It looked like Vernon would have the victory but he left a gap on his left shoulder to the barriers, giving just enough space for Paul Magnier of Soudal Quickstep to come through. Once Magnier had his opening, he sprinted through it, passed Vernon and took the his second win of the week. Vernon held on for second place with Erlend Blikra of Uno-X Mobility in third.