Renshaw Wins Tour Of Britain Fourth Stage

Last updated : 16 September 2011 By Kev Monks

Mark Renshaw won the fourth stage of the Tour Of Britain.

Stage four set off from Exeter with ninety riders and saw Daniel Lloyd take the first sprint whilst Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (RCS) went into the lead in the KOM classification.

Team Sky's Michael Rogers took the second sprint as the front group pushed their lead to 1m44s as the leaders pass very big crowds in Silverton with 40kms to the finish in Exmouth to go.

Damien Gaudin (EUC) got away but was caught leaving the race to finish in a bunch sprint which Mark Renshaw won beating Mark Cavendish.

"We started out with a thirteen rider break today," said HTC Highroad sport director, Allan Peiper to his team's press office. "They had a maximum gap of six and a half minutes, and a few of the main contenders for the GC were up there working hard."

"Rabobank did a lot of work to reel them in but cracked toward the end, and with the help of a few more teams we were able to bring the break back a bit."

"Somewhere between thirty and forty kilometers to go the break started attacking and fell apart, and by twenty to go, the peloton was back together with our boys up front."

"The guys did a great job controlling the front until Bernie [Eisel] got a flat. The roads were extremely narrow and without radios it took too long for us to get a car to him, so he was effectively out of the race."

"On the final kilometer, Renshaw was piloting Cavendish perfectly for the win," Peiper continued, "But in the last corner, Cav backed off and Renshaw came out of it in the lead, so he hammered toward the line and finished just ahead of Cavendish."

Results

Stage Five, Exeter to Exmouth Brief Result
1 Mark Renshaw (Aus, HTC Highroad) 04:17:38
2 Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC Highroad) st
3 Robert Förster (Ger, UnitedHealthcare) st
4 Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky ProCycling) st
5 Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post - Sean Kelly) st
6 Mathew Hayman (Aus, Sky ProCycling) st
7 Zak Dempster (Aus, Rapha Condor Sharp) st
8 Stijn Neirynck (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen) st
9 Daniel Schorn (Aut, Team NetApp) st
10 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita, Leopard Trek) st

Overall General Classification, after Stage Five
1 Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 16:54:29
2 Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky ProCycling) @ 0:12
3 Boy Van Poppel (Ned, UnitedHealthcare) @ 0:14
4 Daniel Lloyd (GB, Garmin - Cervelo) @ 0:16
5 Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek) @ 0:17
6 Ian Bibby (GB, Motorpoint) @ 0:19
7 Jelle Wallays (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen) st
8 Stephen Cummings (GB,Sky ProCycling) st
9 Jan-Bert Lindeman (Ned, Vacansoleil - DCM) st

The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Classification, after Stage Five
1 Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky ProCycling) 41pts
1 Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC Highroad) 40pts
3 Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 37pts
4 Mark Renshaw (Aus, HTC Highroad) 29pts

Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, after Stage Five
1 Jonathan Tiernan Locke (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp) 54pts
2 Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized) 44pts
3 Thomas De Gendt (Bel, Vacansoleil - DCM) 25pts
= Stephen Cummings (GB, Sky ProCycling) 25pts
5 Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek) 20pts

Yodel Sprints Classification, after Stage Five
1 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel, AN Post - Sean Kelly) 33pts
2 Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized) 13pts
3 Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post - Sean Kelly) 10pts
4 Jack Bauer (NZ, Endura Racing) 9pts
5 Boy Van Poppel (Ned, UnitedHealthcare) 8pts

UNISON Best Young Rider
1 Jelle Wallays (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen)

Combativity Award: Kristian House (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp)