Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) stormed to his fourth straight stage win into Newark beating Casper van Uden (dsm-firmenich) and Ethan Vernon (Great Britain), after his Jumbo-Visma team delivered another textbook lead out, recovering from losing their position during another technical run-in with 3km to go.
Featured image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Report
As riders set off from Sherwood Forest, many teams were hoping that the spirit of Robin Hood would encapsulate the stage and end the dominance of Jumbo-Visma, who have yet to put a foot wrong in the race. The parcours for the 166km stage again favoured the sprinters with only 1200m of climbing all day, the conditions almost perfect, unlike when Ian Stannard took an unlikely solo victory on a similar Nottinghamshire stage back in 2018.
The day’s breakaway had a familiar feel with Pinarello King of the Mountains leader James Fouché (Bolton Equities-Black Spoke) joined by the TBT-Unibet pairing of Harry Tanfield and Abram Stockman; Fouché the first across the line at the 3rd category ascent of Kilton Hill to extend his lead in that competition.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 4: Sherwood Forest to Newark-on-Trent (166.6km) – James Fouche of Team Bolton Equities Black Spoke (Wearing the Pinarello King of the Mountains Jersey), Abram Stockman of Team TDT Unibet Cycling in the breakaway. Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Harry Tanfield took the day’s only cottages.com sprint at Broughton, with the Jumbo-Visma controlled peloton keeping the gap to the breakaway at just over a minute for the duration of the stage. Fouché seemed resigned to the fact the trio would not make it and sat up after taking maximum points, uncontested, at the second and final King of the Mountains 3rd category climb of Red Hill Lane 5km later; another day of maximum points secured for the Kiwi.
With Tanfield and Stockman left out front the gap continued to fall as the race passed through the picturesque minster town of Southwell, the duo eventually caught with 27km to go, Jos van Emden and Steven Kruijswijk pulling the bunch along for the majority of the chase.
With a grandstand sprint finish set up in Newark, the sprinters’ teams came to the fore with 20km to go, Tanfield making his way back to to front of the bunch in support of Davide Bomboi, the Belgian yet to finish outside the top ten in the four stages so far.
With teams making of the use of the wide lanes coming into Newark, a sharp right-hand bend caught Jumbo-Visma out with only 3km to go, Kooij and his lead out separated and losing 30 bike lengths in the mix-up as they took a longer line than the other teams. Testament to their skill and power, the team were able to negotiate their way back to the head of affairs, Nathan Van Hooydonk being joined by Wout van Aert and later Kooij as the flame rouge beckoned.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 4: Sherwood Forest to Newark-on-Trent (166.6km) – Olav Kooij of Team Jumbo Visma (Wearing the Leaders Jersey) Wins his fourth consecutive stage of the 2023 Tour of Britain at Stage 4 in Newark-on-Trent. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
In the final 200m, it was the Sherrif Kooij who sprinted clear to yet another win, no other sprinter able to challenge the Dutchman and his Jumbo-Visma team.
The question now will be how many stages he can win, with at least the next two more stages favourable to the sprinters and the possibility of a bunch gallop on Saturday into Tewkesbury.
Brit Watch
Harry Tanfield spent another day in the breakaway, a stated aim of his TBT-Unibet team and took the only cottages.com sprint of the day. Perhaps more impressive was his return to the front of the peloton, something that should bring him the combativity prize again.
Ethan Vernon was given a good lead out by the Great Britain team, again coming third, outgunned by the combination of Van Aert and Kooij who have dominated the race since it started. Vernon is getting closer to the win and demonstrated his speed in the finishing straight. He is now second on GC, and with more opportunities to come, he will be hopeful of a favourable result before the week is out.
Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) stormed to his fourth straight stage win into Newark beating Casper van Uden (dsm-firmenich) and Ethan Vernon (Great Britain), after his Jumbo-Visma team delivered another textbook lead out, recovering from losing their position during another technical run-in with 3km to go.
Featured image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Report
As riders set off from Sherwood Forest, many teams were hoping that the spirit of Robin Hood would encapsulate the stage and end the dominance of Jumbo-Visma, who have yet to put a foot wrong in the race. The parcours for the 166km stage again favoured the sprinters with only 1200m of climbing all day, the conditions almost perfect, unlike when Ian Stannard took an unlikely solo victory on a similar Nottinghamshire stage back in 2018.
The day’s breakaway had a familiar feel with Pinarello King of the Mountains leader James Fouché (Bolton Equities-Black Spoke) joined by the TBT-Unibet pairing of Harry Tanfield and Abram Stockman; Fouché the first across the line at the 3rd category ascent of Kilton Hill to extend his lead in that competition.
Harry Tanfield took the day’s only cottages.com sprint at Broughton, with the Jumbo-Visma controlled peloton keeping the gap to the breakaway at just over a minute for the duration of the stage. Fouché seemed resigned to the fact the trio would not make it and sat up after taking maximum points, uncontested, at the second and final King of the Mountains 3rd category climb of Red Hill Lane 5km later; another day of maximum points secured for the Kiwi.
With Tanfield and Stockman left out front the gap continued to fall as the race passed through the picturesque minster town of Southwell, the duo eventually caught with 27km to go, Jos van Emden and Steven Kruijswijk pulling the bunch along for the majority of the chase.
With a grandstand sprint finish set up in Newark, the sprinters’ teams came to the fore with 20km to go, Tanfield making his way back to to front of the bunch in support of Davide Bomboi, the Belgian yet to finish outside the top ten in the four stages so far.
With teams making of the use of the wide lanes coming into Newark, a sharp right-hand bend caught Jumbo-Visma out with only 3km to go, Kooij and his lead out separated and losing 30 bike lengths in the mix-up as they took a longer line than the other teams. Testament to their skill and power, the team were able to negotiate their way back to the head of affairs, Nathan Van Hooydonk being joined by Wout van Aert and later Kooij as the flame rouge beckoned.
In the final 200m, it was the Sherrif Kooij who sprinted clear to yet another win, no other sprinter able to challenge the Dutchman and his Jumbo-Visma team.
The question now will be how many stages he can win, with at least the next two more stages favourable to the sprinters and the possibility of a bunch gallop on Saturday into Tewkesbury.
Brit Watch
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