Thursday 11 September 2014 11:43, UK
Sir Bradley Wiggins’s hopes of retaining his Tour of Britain title were dealt a blow after Michal Kwiatkowski surged into the overall race lead by winning stage four in Bristol.
Kwiatkowski was one of a clutch of riders who escaped from the peloton on a climb inside the last 2.5km and he subsequently sprinted to victory ahead of second-placed Albert Timmer and third-placed Dylan Teuns.
Wiggins was unable to follow the decisive move and crossed the line in a chase group six seconds behind the winner in 34th place.
Kwiatkowski also picked up ten bonus seconds for his win and now opens a three-second gap at the top of the general classification over former leader Edoardo Zardini, who finished the day 19th, with Teuns 11 seconds further back in third.
Wiggins drops one place to sixth, but is now 27 seconds behind Kwiatkowski, whom he regards to be his closest rival for overall victory.
Wiggins said afterwards: "I'm still up there but on paper first place has gone now. I can't see myself getting 27 seconds on Kwiatkowski, but the podium is only 12 seconds away.
"He only has to have a puncture in the time trial. I wouldn't say the GC is over because finishing up there as the defending champion is important."
The 184.6km stage began in Worcester and ended with a sharp category-two climb up Bridge Valley Road, just next to Bristol’s iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge.
A nine-man breakaway moved clear early in the day and built up a maximum lead of almost six minutes, but their numbers were reduced to eight when Alex Dowsett (Movistar) suffered back-to-back punctures and then to just three when Lasse Hansen (Garmin-Sharp) attacked 12.5km from the finish and only Timmer (Giant-Shimano) and Peter Velits (BMC Racing) could follow.
The trio’s advantage had eroded to just 15 seconds heading on to the key climb of Bridge Valley Road and it quickly tumbled further when Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) attacked out of the peloton.
Timmer accelerated into a lone lead just shy of the summit in a bid to stay clear, but Bauer drew alongside him with 1.6km to go as the road flattened out.
Behind them, Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) had counter-attacked out of the pack on the climb, and Kwiatkowski was one of three riders who chased the Irishman down.
However, only Kwiatkowski had the legs to keep pushing on, and he snatched victory from Bauer and Timmer with an unstoppable burst with the finish line in sight.
Kwiatkowski said: “Everyone played games at the end. I knew there was going to be one corner, with 350m to go, and I went there. The guys on the front were waiting, so I took the chance. It’s nice to race here in Great Britain because the crowds are amazing and riding here is something special.”
Stage four result
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, 4:19:09
2 Albert Timmer (Ned) Giant-Shimano, same time
3 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC, st
4 Jack Bauer (NZ), Garmin-Sharp, st
5 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar, st
6 Nicolas Roche (Ire) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
7 Ben Swift (GB) Team Sky, +6secs
8 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing, st
9 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) bardiani-CSF, st
10 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling, st
Selected other
34 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, st
General classification
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, 15:49:33
2 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani, +3secs
3 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC, +14
4 Nicolas Roche (Ire) Tinkoff-Saxo, same time
5 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar, +23
6 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, +27
7 David Lopez (Spa) Team Sky, st
8 Leopold Konig (Cze) NetApp-Endura, +29
9 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling, st
10 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, +40
