Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 4 Preview
By David Hunter
Nuneaton – Leamington Spa 183.5km
Apologies, I had to miss the last couple of stages due to a server upgrade. Seems that too many people want to read my previews!
The sprinters will be happy, we have a sprint stage. There are a couple of cat 2 climbs inside the final 45km, they are 800m at 10% and 1.7km at 4.9%. The final climb crests with around 27km remaining, meaning it should be controlled by the peloton. After a difficult two days, everyone will be happy with a sprint stage.
Finale
Who’s idea was it to put a tight corner in with 300m to go? Not only that but we have a huge amount of traffic furniture inside the final 3km. This will make it hard for riders to move up the bunch and teams would be advised to hit the front early.
Weather
Should be a nice day, with a light wind coming from the North. This means a lot of headwind as the riders make their way to the finishing town.
Contenders
Andre Greipel – his win on Sunday fell into the surprise category, for me anyway. The success was in a large amount due to a strong lead out, thanks to Moreno Hofland and Jasper De Buyst. Given the level of other sprint trains at this race, the Lotto boys look very fast. After losing Vanendert to a crash, I don’t think we’ll see Lotto committing too many riders to the morning chase, they need to save their men for the final 2km.
Fernando Gaviria – has spent a large amount of this week looking to attack and get racing into his legs. In the opening sprint, he tried to take the others by surprise and launch early, but this didn’t work. In fact, it was a sign that Gaviria was a little worried about his current condition. After a couple of tough stages, I expect to see him back to near his best. If this is an easy day in the saddle, we should see Richeze leading out Gaviria, a combination that frightens many.
Caleb Ewan – was close to winning the opening stage, but seemed to choose the longer racing line. That day he had to look after himself in the last kilometre, choosing the right wheel of Greipel. This stage should see Roger Kluge back on lead out duty and that will give Ewan a massive confidence boost. Can he make up for his mistake on Sunday?
Phil Bauhaus – came here to ride for Edward Theuns, but his crash has handed the German an opportunity. He’s leaving the team in the Winter, can he give them a final win? To be honest, his season has promised much without ever really taking off.
Prediction Time
Caleb Ewan to mak up for his mistake on Sunday and take the sprint win.
David Hunter
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