Fernando Gaviria wins Stage Four from Edinburgh to Blyth
Author: Chris Maher/ Press Release, Pictures courtesy of: Chris Maher | Photography
September 06th-13th 2015
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage 4 - Edinburgh to Blyth
Gaviria, just 21, was expertly guided into pole positon by the Etixx Quick-Step team with Zdenek Stybar acting as pilot and Mark Cavendish as sweeper before he moved decisively to the right of the road and taking off with a blistering turn of speed reminiscent of Cavendish at his best, offering up a low crouching profile to reduce the drag.
It was a classy and comprehensive win in Northumberland, earning a congratulatory handshake from Greipel and a raised fist of triumph from teammate Cavendish as he crossed the line.
The victory was Etixx Quick-Step’s second so far of the Aviva Tour of Britain, and came on the day that their Stage Two winner Petr Vakoc retired from the race as a result of the crash that cost him the Aviva Yellow Jersey at Floors Castle.
It was a textbook ride by the Etixx Quick-Step team who rode aggressively to put the dangerous Matteo Trentin in the break for them, which meant that the team could then rely on the Movistar Team and Team Sky to make most of the going chasing before coming to the fore at the end. Trentin’s reward was the Crockwell Bishop cheese from Rouleur as Combativity Award winner for Stage Four from Edinburgh to Blyth.
“It was a victory for the team, Mark put me in a very good positon and I just went for it,” said Gaviria from Le Ceja near Medellin. “My mentality is always to go for the win.
“I have been very surprised by the crowds, they have been very big, back in Colombia these days you don’t get such big crowds as this anymore for cycling, so it was great to race in front of so many fans. The countryside was good but it was the first time I have seen a windfarm, I did wonder what that was when we rode past one.”
Gaviria’s stage win was the first for a Colombian rider since Mauricio Ardila’s victory at Celtic Manor in the inaugural edition of the modern Tour of Britain in 2004.
A considerable career awaits for a rider that his DS Brian Holm described yesterday as a cross between Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish.
High praise indeed for Gaviria who looked pleased at the compliment. “They are great riders and champions and I have always dreamed to be a rider like them so I am very happy to be compared with them.”
At the top of the Aviva General Classification Movistar’s Juan Jose Lobato stayed in the Aviva Yellow Jersey, although with a lead trimmed to six seconds thanks to the bonus seconds for Boasson Hagen’s third place.
The Spaniard did though lose the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey, which switches to the shoulders of Team WIGGINS’ Owain Doull, also the Premier Inn Best British Rider.
After a spectacular opening few kilometres through the heart of Edinburgh, including the Royal Mile, a strong six rider break including Alan Marangoni, Danilo Wyss, Michael Svendgaard, Rob Partridge and Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg & Trentin.
Trentin, who had started the day just 18-seconds back from Lobato, resulted in the Movistar Team led by former World Hour record holder Alex Dowsett to be pressed into immediate service to ride hard in the service of their Aviva Yellow Jersey.
With the Movistar Team keeping the break pegged at four minutes, the sprint trains of Sky and Lotto Soudal took over responsibility for the chase, working hard to reduce the deficit, as they passed through thousands of spectators in the towns of Coldstream, Wooler and Alnwick among others.
In the SKODA King of the Mountains competition there was no change with Tom Stewart of Madison Genesis still leading on 25 points, two ahead of Ian Bibby of NFTO and Kristian House of JLT Condor presented by Mavic. Nor was there any change in the YodelDirect Sprints with Peter Williams of ONE Pro Cycling still one point ahead of Pim Ligthart of Lotto Soudal and Aidis Kruopis of An Post Chain Reaction.
Stage 4 | Edinburgh to Blyth 217.4 Kms
1 12 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando EQS COL B:10″ 00″
2 71 GREIPEL André LTS GER B:06″ ‘ ‘
3 81 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN NOR B:04″ ‘ ‘
4 194 DOULL Owain WGN GBR ‘ ‘
5 73 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LTS BEL ‘ ‘
6 36 VANGENECHTEN Jonas IAM BEL ‘ ‘
7 26 VIVIANI Elia SKY ITA ‘ ‘
8 82 CIOLEK Gerald MTN GER ‘ ‘
9 42 GERTS Floris BMC NED ‘ ‘
10 122 BRIGGS Graham JLT GBR ‘ ‘
11 175 OPIE Chris ONE GBR ‘ ‘
12 11 CAVENDISH Mark EQS GBR ‘ ‘
14 142 MORKOV Michael TCS DEN ‘ ‘
15 104 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV ESP ‘ ‘
16 21 SWIFT Ben SKY GBR ‘ ‘
17 53 GULDHAMMER Rasmus CLT DEN ‘ ‘
18 114 PERON Andrea TNN ITA ‘ ‘
19 25 POELS Wouter SKY NED ‘ ‘
20 44 TEUNS Dylan BMC BEL ‘ ‘
General Classification Aviva Yellow Jersey
1 104 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV ESP 18h50’12” 00″
2 81 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN NOR 18h50’18” 06″
3 42 GERTS Floris BMC NED 18h50’24” 12″
4 25 POELS Wouter SKY NED 18h50’25” 13″
5 1 VAN BAARLE Dylan TCG NED ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
6 194 DOULL Owain WGN GBR 18h50’26” 14″
7 122 BRIGGS Graham JLT GBR ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
8 53 GULDHAMMER Rasmus CLT DEN ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
9 15 TRENTIN Matteo EQS ITA ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
10 84 PAUWELS Serge MTN BEL 18h50’32” 20″
11 44 TEUNS Dylan BMC BEL 18h50’34” 22″
12 73 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LTS BEL ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
13 14 STYBAR Zdenek EQS CZE ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
14 102 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV ESP ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
15 151 HART Tao Geoghegan GBR GBR ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
16 141 KISERLOVSKI Robert TCS CRO ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
17 6 ZEPUNTKE Ruben TCG GER ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
18 133 KRUIJSWIJK Steven TLJ NED ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
19 106 INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat MOV ESP ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
20 103 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV ESP ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
Skoda King of the Mountains Jersey
1 96 STEWART Thomas GBR MGT 25
2 163 BIBBY Ian GBR NPC 23
3 121 HOUSE Kristian GBR JLT 20
4 83 FARRAR Tyler USA MTN 18
5 176 WILLIAMS Peter GBR ONE 17
6 45 WYSS Danilo SUI BMC 15
7 94 CRONSHAW Mathew GBR MGT 14
8 62 DUNNE Conor IRL SKT 14
9 166 PARTRIDGE Robert GBR NPC 13
10 23 KENNAUGH Peter GBR SKY 13
YodelDirect Sprints Jersey
1 176 WILLIAMS Peter GBR ONE 9
2 74 LIGTHART Pim NED LTS 8
3 64 KRUOPIS Aidis LTU SKT 8
4 45 WYSS Danilo SUI BMC 7
5 62 DUNNE Conor IRL SKT 7
6 15 TRENTIN Matteo ITA EQS 4
7 172 BIALOBLOCKI Marcin POL ONE 4
8 121 HOUSE Kristian GBR JLT 3
9 83 FARRAR Tyler USA MTN 3
10 55 SVENDGAARD Michael Carbel DEN CLT 3
Chain Reactions Cycles Points Jersey
1 194 DOULL Owain GBR WGN 44
2 104 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose ESP MOV 40
3 26 VIVIANI Elia ITA SKY 39
4 73 DEBUSSCHERE Jens BEL LTS 31
5 71 GREIPEL André GER LTS 27
6 81 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald NOR MTN 26
7 15 TRENTIN Matteo ITA EQS 24
8 122 BRIGGS Graham GBR JLT 23
9 2 BETTIOL Alberto ITA TCG 20
10 42 GERTS Floris NED BMC 17
The race resumes in Northumberland tomorrow, Thursday 10 September, with Stage Five starting from Prudhoe at 11:15 and taking in Hadrian’s Wall, before crossing into Cumbria and skirting Ullswater in the Lake District National Park. The stage concludes with the summit finish of Hartside, an eight-kilometre climb above Penrith, averaging just over 5%.
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