Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling Team) was left feeling happy with his performance on stage 4 of the Tour of Britain despite losing the overall lead to Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), saying his team had ridden an “incredible race” against a stronger opponent.
At Saturday’s finish in Leyburn, the British rider placed fifth, 27 seconds behind new race leader Wellens. Askey dropped to second overall, 21 seconds behind the Belgian, after starting the day with a 12-second lead. Askey did retain the points jersey, though.
“Honestly, yes. I'd love to be sat here wearing the leader's jersey at the moment, but we rode an incredible race,” Askey said when asked by Velora whether he was happy with the day. “Every single one of the lads just was incredible. I couldn't have asked for anything more from any of them.”
Askey believed he had the legs and support to potentially defend his GC lead. NSN used their numbers well but Wellens had already pulled out a good gap over the top of the final climb and, while they closed to 27 seconds, Wellens was too strong on the day.
“I was on a really good day. I made all the right decisions, all the right calls, had good legs, was in the group where I wanted to be,” Askey said. “But yeah, he was just outrageously strong. If you're beaten by a better man, you can't be disappointed.”
Wellens attacks on Redmire
UAE had set out its intention to pressure Askey before the stage and repeatedly raised the pace to accumulate fatigue rather than relying on one isolated attack. Its first major effort came on Greenhow, where the peloton split before reforming.
“The more energy, the more fatigue they could put into me before the end of the race, the better it was going to be for them,” Askey said. “Actually, it kind of gave me a lot of confidence,” Askey said. “I was honestly feeling really, really good. That was a tough climb and they went pretty hard up it, and I was, I'd say, relatively within myself on that climb. So I knew I was on a good day from the start.”
Wellens made the decisive move from the reduced peloton on Redmire, the final classified climb, more than 40km from Leyburn. The 3.5km ascent averaged 8.1%, and his acceleration quickly stretched the race beyond Askey's control.
Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM Team), who had spent the day in the breakaway, was the only rider able to stay with Wellens after the summit. Their advantage over Askey's group reached 1:20 before the chase reduced it, but the pair stayed clear and Bol won the uphill sprint in Leyburn.
Askey expects his advantage over the riders behind to secure him a place on the final podium. With the race concluding in Earlston on Sunday, NSN can now focus on helping Ethan Vernon, whose sprint speed has yet to produce a stage victory this week.
“I think normally it should be pretty secure, the podium there,” Askey said. “Hopefully we can give him that chance tomorrow.”
