Gaviria claims Tour of Britain stage 4 sprint
With help from his Etixx teammate, Mark Cavendish, young sprint start Fernando Gaviria wins in Scotland.
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LONDON (AFP) — Colombian Fernando Gaviria won the fourth stage of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday after a tight sprint finish to the 217.4km route between the Scottish capital Edinburgh and Blyth.
“My job today was to pull in the sprint for Mark [Cavendish],” Gaviria said. “But Mark was a little bit boxed in the last corner at 400 meters to go, and he couldn’t really sprint. So, I looked around me, and I made the decision to go for the sprint. I did my best, and at the end, I saw that I was closing in on and passing Greipel. To me, when I crossed the line as the winner, it was a huge moment. I beat one of the best sprinters in the pro peloton, a point of reference for a guy like myself. So, it’s really an honor to get this victory.”
Spain’s Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) kept hold of the leader’s jersey after finishing 15th.
Aided by Etixx-Quick-Step teammate Mark Cavendish, Gaviria, 21, came home ahead of Germany’s André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) to claim the fourth victory of his professional road career.
Boasson Hagen now trails Lobato by five seconds in the overall classification, with Dutchman Floris Gerts (BMC) seven seconds further back in third place.
