Theo Bos won stage 4 of the Tour of Alberta, after breaking away from a lead group of riders in the closing meters of today’s stage.
Indeed, the Belkin rider rode in the slipstream of his teammate Sep Vanmarcke, as the lead group entered the final 50 meters. From there, the Dutch rider surged past his teammate in a burst of acceleration, that served to fend-off any challengers to the line.
In the meantime, Daryl Impey finished in second place, followed by Jure Kocjan in third.
“The last 30 kilometers, we knew it was going to be a bunch sprint,” Bos said. “We had everything under control but it’s difficult to maintain position to the finish. With one lap to go all the teams were making their moves …with their sprinters.”
Belkin lost their position early in the final lap, but a strong headwind enabled them to regain some ground, and move their sprinters into position.
“I was in fourth position into the last corner, a perfect position … and it worked out.”
Today’s finale came after the peloton spent virtually all day patiently pursuing a small breakaway group of riders, who managed to ride clear early on in the stage. However, as the race entered into the first of the three final laps, the escapees were caught – ultimately setting the stage up for a sprint finale.
Meanwhile, Tom Dumoulin finished safely in the peloton to retained his grip on the overall lead. He now carries an 8 second lead over Ruben Zepuntke – heading into tomorrow’s final stage.
Tomorrow’s stage is a 124 kilometer route around the heart of Edmonton, with riders tackling an 11 lap circuit, that features plenty of technical turns and constant elevation.
“That suits me really well,” Dumoulin said of the final stage. “I normally do well in hills.”
Stage 4 Results NED 1 BOS, Theo (BELKIN) 3:42:50 RSA 2 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GreenEDGE) SLO 3 KOCJAN, Jure (TEAM SMARTSTOP) USA 4 SWEETING, Robert (5-HOUR ENERGY) GER 5 FÖRSTER, Robert (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) LTU 6 NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas (GARMIN SHARP) AUS 7 VON HOFF, Steele (GARMIN SHARP) DEN 8 BROCHNER, Nicolai (BISSELL DEVELOPMENT TEAM) USA 9 MAGNER, Tyler (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT) USA 10 KING, Benjamin (GARMIN SHARP) USA 11 KLINE, Shane (TEAM SMARTSTOP) SWE 12 AHLSTRAND, Jonas (GIANT-SHIMANO) USA 13 MCCABE, Travis (TEAM SMARTSTOP) CAN 14 HOULE, Hugo (CANADA) CAN 15 ANDERSON, Ryan (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) CAN 16 NAUD, Pierrick (GARNEAU – QUÉBECOR) BEL 17 VANMARCKE, Sep (BELKIN) AUS 18 HAYMAN, Mathew (ORICA GreenEDGE) GER 19 ZEPUNTKE, Ruben (BISSELL DEVELOPMENT TEAM) MDA 20 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS)
General Classification after Stage 4 NED 1 DUMOULIN, Tom (GIANT-SHIMANO) 13:21:35 GER 2 ZEPUNTKE, Ruben (BISSELL DEVELOPMENT TEAM) + 8 RSA 3 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 9 LTU 4 NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas (GARMIN SHARP) + 13 MDA 5 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) + 14 AUS 6 HOWARD, Leigh (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 15 CAN 7 ANDERSON, Ryan (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) + 16 USA 8 SUMMERHILL, Daniel (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) + 18 NZL 9 ORAM, James (BISSELL DEVELOPMENT TEAM) + 23 NED 10 WEENING, Pieter (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 26
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