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Columbia's Edvald Boasson Hagen wins stage 4 of the Tour of Britain, as a flat tire delates Emilien Berges' hopes.

Published: Sep. 10, 2008

A challenging uphill final stretch made for an exciting stage finish to day four of the Tour of Britain, as Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) came from behind to beat breakaway companion Giairo Ermeti (LPR Brakes - Ballan) on the line in Stoke-on-Trent.

Race leader Emilien Berges punctured with around 7k to go, losing over a minute and dropping to ninth place overall. Teammate Geoffroy Lequatre inherited the yellow jersey going into Thursday's stage in Yorkshire.

Ben Swift won all of the day’s three E.ON King of the Mountains climbs to overtake Kristian
House at the top of the standings, while second place finisher Ermeti took over the sprints jersey after winning all three intermediate sprints.

Fast start

Clear blue skies welcomed the peloton to Worcester, at a start moved a few hundred yards from the city’s flooded racecourse.

Covering the first two miles at nearly 35mph set the tone for the first hour, as riders struggled to make their attacks stick. CSC’s Bradley McGee briefly established a lead, but was reeled in, as three other riders including teammate Chris Anker Sorensen tried to make it across to him.

On the climb of High Habberley, Swift forced the pace, summiting first and taking eight other riders with him as the peloton strung itself out on the fast descent.

With Stuart O’Grady (CSC), Serge Pauwels (Topsport Vlaanderen), Daniel Lloyd (An Post M.Donnelly), Santiago Botero (Rock Racing), Rob Hayles (GBR), Wesley Sulzberger (SouthAustralia.com - AIS), Ermeti and Boasson Hagen for company, the break had the quality to succeed, but it took them around five miles to build up a slender lead of just 18 seconds as they crossed into Staffordshire.

David Millar (Garmin-Chipotle) then succeeded in getting across the gap to make it ten riders up front, and that’s how it stayed with their lead gradually building as the race passed through Wolverhampton and across Shropshire, before descending into the Ironbridge Gorge.

Agritubel's Romain Feillu and Steven Caethoven came to the front as the race turned right just beyond Ironbridge and headed uphill, forcing the pace for the peloton. Ahead of them, though, Swift attacked, aiming to secure the mountains points, in the process jettisoning his teammate Hayles from the breakaway.

The Great Britain rider picked up full points at both the E.ON King of the Mountains climbs of Jiggers Bank and Saddle of the Wrekin, ensuring he would don the jersey he won in 2007 once more.

The chase is on

A fast descent from the back of the Wrekin saw the peloton strung out in a line as Agritubel led the chase to bring back the escapees, which included 11th placed rider overnight Ermeti, just 1 minute 56 seconds back from Berges.

The gap, which had never been more than just over two minutes, soon began to tumble as the race made its way back into Staffordshire along the exposed roads between Newport and Eccleshall. With 25km to go it was 1 minute 22 seconds, but that was slashed as pack headed up from Stone to Rough Close, with the gap now under a minute.

Another fast descent saw the leaders through Barlaston with a 42-second advantage over the fast chasing peloton. As the race turned right past Wedgewood, disaster struck.

Untimely puncture

First Russell Downing punctured and found himself having to chase hard to get back on, and then as the route turned right once more, the yellow jersey pulled to the right, signaling that he too had punctured.

Temporarily left without teammates, Berges began to chase, first catching and passing fellow Agritubel rider Freddy Bichot, and then reaching last year’s Tour of Britain winner Feillu, who had dropped back to help Berges along with Caethoven.

With riders being shelled out the back of the fast moving peloton, the Agritubel trio kept catching and passing the stragglers, while at the front the break dangled on the long straight run down Victoria Road.

As the remaining nine escapes were about to be caught with around 3km to go, Boasson Hagen jumped, taking Ermeti away with him onto the uphill section leading to Potteries Way, with the peloton in hot pursuit.

The two swept down the brief section of by-pass before turning on to the final few hundred meters of uphill to the finish line. As Ermeti led them to the line, Boasson Hagen came the long way round him, pipping him at the line to take his first Tour of Britain stage victory.

Behind them a frustrated Danilo Di Luca (LPR), finished third, banging his handlebars as he crossed the line on a finale that suited his talents, while Lequatre came in ninth to ensure he kept the yellow jersey for the French team

Boasson Hagen praised the work his breakaway companions had done, but admitted it had been a narrow victory.

“It was close. I didn’t actually see the peloton, but I heard Roger (Hammond) scream from behind in the group, so I attacked.”

For new race leader Geoffroy Lequatre, there were mixed emotions as he inherited the race lead from his teammate.

“It is a strange emotion, because I am happy I am in the yellow jersey, but unhappy because Emilien (Berges) hit a hole and got a puncture when he was on my wheel, so I feel bad.

"I’m happy for the team. It was hard for us today because nobody would help us, but the boys did a good job. For sure I would like to keep this jersey, because it is a great tour. I hope to do a good race and to win.”

Thursday sees the race visit Yorkshire and Humberside forstage 5, from Hull to Dalby Forest. Riders will tackle flat coastal roads early on, before turning inland at Scarborough to tackle a series of tough climbs that welcome the race into Dalby Forest.