Tour of Britain stage 4: Vacansoleil shine as Poels takes the win

It was a day for Vacansoleil today on the Tour of Britain even though the soleil was not very much in evidence. The wind and rain was, though, and it played havoc with the peloton, stringing the race out on the very lumpy terrain of the West country.

By the top of the first KOM climb two separate pelotons had formed, and a lead group was 30 seconds ahead of the first. Vacansoleil were well represented but the attacks kept on coming and Matt Hayman (SKY), Dan Martin (GRM) and Jonny Hoogerland (VAC) managed to sneak off the front in testing conditions.

By 1pm the field covered nearly seven miles on the road as the roads started to dry out. With HTC driving the peolton the gap started to come down and front of the race briefly came together before a series of attacks culminated in Wout Poels (VAC) going off the front with just 2km to go, and Borut Bozic (VAC) snuck away from the pack too to take second spot in sprint ahead of Koen De Kort in third. The peloton rolled in the best part of half an hour back.

Albasini (THC) stays in the GC leader's jersey after his fireworks on Constitution Hill yesterday, with Richie Porte and Borut Bozic making up the podium. He's also the points leader, with Jonny Hoogerland (VAC) taking over the King of the Mountains lead.

Stage Four Results (Minehead to Teignmouth, 171.3km)
1) Wout Poels (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)   4:30:35
2) Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)     @ 05
3) Koen De Kort (Skil - Shimano)                  @ same time
4) Jack Bauer (Endura Racing)                     @ same time
5) Patrick Sinkewitz (ISD - Neri Giambenini)      @ same time
 
Honda Combativity Award winner: Daniel Martin (Garmin - Transitions Pro Cycling Team)
 
General Classification (after four stages):
1) Michael Albasini (Team HTC - Columbia),        15:27:41
2) Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank)                    @ 1:28
3) Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)       @ 1:32
4) Greg Henderson (Team Sky)                        @ 1:36
5) Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) @ 1:42
 
The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey: Michael Albasini (Team HTC - Columbia)
 
The King of the Mountains Jersey: Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
 
The Sprints Jersey: Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank)