2025 Tour of Britain Women: stage 4 report and results
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) crowned the Glasgow finale with a trademark drag-strip burst on George Square, claiming her seventh Tour of Britain Women stage and settling the day’s sprint honours. Behind her, Ally Wollaston quietly amassed the seconds that matter in stage racing, seizing every intermediate prime and the four-second award for third place at the line. The haul - thirteen seconds in total - was enough to erase Cat Ferguson’s three-second overnight cushion and leave the FDJ-Suez rider four seconds to the good when the arithmetic was done.
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) crowned the Glasgow finale with a trademark drag-strip burst on George Square, claiming her seventh Tour of Britain Women stage and settling the day’s sprint honours. Behind her, Ally Wollaston quietly amassed the seconds that matter in stage racing, seizing every intermediate prime and the four-second award for third place at the line. The haul – thirteen seconds in total – was enough to erase Cat Ferguson’s three-second overnight cushion and leave the FDJ-Suez rider four seconds to the good when the arithmetic was done.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Report
The 8.4-kilometre city circuit, ridden ten times in benign early-summer sunshine, offered three time-bonus sprints on laps four, six and eight. At the first two sprints, FDJ-Suez ran the same drill: Jade Wiel and Gladys Verhulst-Wilden emptied themselves on St Vincent Street, Emilia Fahlin threaded Wollaston through the pack and the Kiwi launched cleanly for three seconds, while race leader Ferguson (Movistar) salvaged two. That sequence left Wollaston just one second in arrears to Ferguson with four laps remaining.
Drama flickered when Ferguson punctured on lap seven; she quickly hustled her way back to the peloton after a bike change, but the chase cost precious energy. At the final sprint, Wollaston again took the maximum, drawing them level on paper yet cranking up the psychological pressure. Anna Morris’s (Great Britain) late solo raid briefly scattered the chase, but SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek reeled her in as the bunch dived back towards the Clyde.
Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime) celebrates as she crosses the line first. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Wiebes opened the finishing drag with 175 metres to run, Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) followed, and Wollaston forced her way through the bunch to prise third, earning her four more precious bonus seconds. Those seconds tipped the balance of the entire race. Ferguson rolled in several lengths farther back; moments later the clock confirmed what the road had hinted: Wollaston, at 24, had landed her first Women’s WorldTour stage-race title.
“I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I’m so happy,” she said afterwards, still trying to compute the scale of her success. “Firstly, just a massive thank you to my teammates, I couldn’t have done it without them today. There were a few moments of doubt, and they really helped me pull it together in the final.” She explained the plan in matter-of-fact tones: “I started three seconds down today, and I knew I needed to get every second I could from the bonus sprints, and unfortunately, Cat was right on my wheel every time, so it really came down to the last sprint.”
Ally Wollaston (FDJ – SUEZ) reacts after winning the general classification. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Karlijn Swinkels (UAE ADQ) rounded out the overall podium a further eighteen seconds back. Wiebes, though absent from the overall conversation, left Glasgow with the stage win and a reminder that, when a bunch sprint is on the cards, she remains cycling’s surest bet.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar Team) reacts at the end of the final stage. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) crowned the Glasgow finale with a trademark drag-strip burst on George Square, claiming her seventh Tour of Britain Women stage and settling the day’s sprint honours. Behind her, Ally Wollaston quietly amassed the seconds that matter in stage racing, seizing every intermediate prime and the four-second award for third place at the line. The haul – thirteen seconds in total – was enough to erase Cat Ferguson’s three-second overnight cushion and leave the FDJ-Suez rider four seconds to the good when the arithmetic was done.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Report
The 8.4-kilometre city circuit, ridden ten times in benign early-summer sunshine, offered three time-bonus sprints on laps four, six and eight. At the first two sprints, FDJ-Suez ran the same drill: Jade Wiel and Gladys Verhulst-Wilden emptied themselves on St Vincent Street, Emilia Fahlin threaded Wollaston through the pack and the Kiwi launched cleanly for three seconds, while race leader Ferguson (Movistar) salvaged two. That sequence left Wollaston just one second in arrears to Ferguson with four laps remaining.
Drama flickered when Ferguson punctured on lap seven; she quickly hustled her way back to the peloton after a bike change, but the chase cost precious energy. At the final sprint, Wollaston again took the maximum, drawing them level on paper yet cranking up the psychological pressure. Anna Morris’s (Great Britain) late solo raid briefly scattered the chase, but SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek reeled her in as the bunch dived back towards the Clyde.
Wiebes opened the finishing drag with 175 metres to run, Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) followed, and Wollaston forced her way through the bunch to prise third, earning her four more precious bonus seconds. Those seconds tipped the balance of the entire race. Ferguson rolled in several lengths farther back; moments later the clock confirmed what the road had hinted: Wollaston, at 24, had landed her first Women’s WorldTour stage-race title.
“I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I’m so happy,” she said afterwards, still trying to compute the scale of her success. “Firstly, just a massive thank you to my teammates, I couldn’t have done it without them today. There were a few moments of doubt, and they really helped me pull it together in the final.” She explained the plan in matter-of-fact tones: “I started three seconds down today, and I knew I needed to get every second I could from the bonus sprints, and unfortunately, Cat was right on my wheel every time, so it really came down to the last sprint.”
Karlijn Swinkels (UAE ADQ) rounded out the overall podium a further eighteen seconds back. Wiebes, though absent from the overall conversation, left Glasgow with the stage win and a reminder that, when a bunch sprint is on the cards, she remains cycling’s surest bet.
Results
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