Fernando Gaviria took his first victory in the 2017 Tour of Britain in another tight bunch sprint.
The Quick-Step Floors rider beat Elia Viviani (Team Sky) by less than a wheel’s width in a sprint finish in Newark-on-Trent. The Italian still had reason to celebrate as he moved back into the race lead after Caleb Ewan finished outside the top 10.
Ewan is level on time with Viviani with four stages remaining, but the Orica-Scott star has lost the green jersey with the Italian boasting greater consistency.
Gaviria now sits third but trails by just six seconds, with Thursday’s fifth stage a 16km time trial in Essex’s Clacton-on-Sea.
“I’ve been coming back from an injury on my left leg. Every day has been going a little bit better. Today everything felt good,” Gaviria said.
Tour of Britain 2017 – stage 4 results (Mansfield – Newark-on-Trent):
| 1 | Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) | 3:43:31 |
| 2 | Elia Viviani (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 3 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 4 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 5 | Alan Banaszek (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) | ,, |
| 6 | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 7 | Harry Tanfield (BIKE Channel Canyon) | ,, |
| 8 | Enzo Wouters (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 9 | Nikolas Maes (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 10 | Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
General classification after stage 4:
| 1 | Elia Viviani (Team Sky) | 17:38:05 |
| 2 | Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 3 | Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) | +06” |
| 4 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | +07” |
| 5 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | +12” |
| 6 | Karol Domagalski (ONE) | +14” |
| 7 | Silvan Dillier (BMC) | +15” |
| 8 | Kamil Gradek (ONE) | ,, |
| 9 | Lars Boom (LottoNl-Jumbo) | +18” |
| 10 | Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) | +20” |
