Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) took the win on stage 4 of the Tour of Britain in Leyburn on Saturday after holding on to a flying Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG) following a day in the breakaway.
Wellens was not keen on the proposed deal that was suggested by the Decathlon-CMA CGM team car, which asked him to gift the stage win to Bol. Wellens had a GC lead to aim for so said that Bol needed to earn the win rather than it being a simple gift. Wellens went clear on the final categorised climb of the day at Redmire, bridging to the break, with Bol the only rider able to follow the flying Belgian.
“Of course they asked directly to add a stage victory. I didn't want to say yes,” Wellens told Velora after the finish. “I said he had to deserve it.”
Bol went into the six-rider break at the start of the day to potentially support his leader Daan Hoole, rather than being the team’s designated stage winner. However, the break were given the largest gap of the entire week and once Bol survived the final climb, he was allowed to go for the win.
“That was the main idea,” Bol told Velora of supporting Hoole. “But then of course, when we know a stage win is in reach, then we also go for this.”
UAE had a plan for when the race made it to the Yorkshire Dales and the climbs beginning with Greenhow Hill and the climb at Kidstones, but it was the final categorised ascent of Redmire, a 3.5km climb averaging 8.1%, that saw Wellens do the damage. Mikkel Bjerg and Nils Politt were among the important helpers as the team reduced the breakaway’s advantage and prepared Wellens for his attack more than 40km from Leyburn.
Wellens said Bjerg and Politt “did incredibly good in the beginning”, before Großschartner and Cosnefroy delivered “the perfect lead-out” later in the stage. “I just had to continue, continue the pace,” he said. “I didn't have to accelerate, I just had to keep going. When Benoît and Felix were done, I was already alone, so it was perfect.”
Cooperation without a guaranteed result
After flying across the gap to the escapees, Wellens pushed on the pace on the steep gradients with Bol clinging on. Behind, Florian Vermeersch tried to remain with the other general-classification contenders, giving UAE another option and greater leverage while its race leader pressed ahead. However, Vermeersch eventually faded and lost a significant chunk of time.
Wellens had started the stage 12 seconds behind Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling Team). That deficit made continued cooperation valuable, while Bol’s stronger sprint gave him little reason to spend more energy than necessary.
Bol didn’t give many turns but did pull through a couple of times to keep Wellens happier before the finale and the tough kicker in the final 2km through Harmby. Bol looked smooth while Wellens was all over the bike, but that masked the Dutchman’s true feelings.
“I look maybe okay, but I did really suffer,” Bol said. “I don't come in a position like this too often. When I do, I'm not giving away the stage because I did one pull too much.”
Wellens also limited his effort. Rather than repeatedly attacking Bol uphill, he settled into a steady pace that preserved his legs and the overall time gain.
“I said I would not accelerate uphill because otherwise I would also kill my legs myself,” Wellens said. “I can go until a certain threshold, but if I go over, I know in the end it will be difficult. So I went my pace and he gave a few pulls. He got rewarded with a stage victory.”
In the end, Bol managed to hold on and had the kick to defeat Wellens, even gapping the Belgian by three seconds. Wellens took the overall lead from Askey with one stage to go. Wellens now leads the GC by 21 seconds over Askey, with Matteo Trentin (Tudor) rounding out the podium at 40 seconds.
