Results Tour of Britain 2026 Stage 4 - Cees Bol takes first win for four years(!) in Leyburn as Tim Wellens seizes race lead with decisive Redmire attack
Cycling
Cees Bol won Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour of Britain in Leyburn, beating Tim Wellens in a two-up sprint after the UAE Team Emirates – XRG rider had blown apart the general classification with a major attack on Redmire.
The stage had initially been shaped by a six-man break featuring Bol, Ben Swift, Xandro Meurisse, Ian Lopez, Brem Deman and Boas Lysgaard.
The group built an advantage of more than three minutes, with Lopez collecting maximum KOM points on Greenhow and Kidstones before the peloton began to close rapidly through the decisive second half of the race.
UAE Team Emirates – XRG steadily increased the pressure behind, and by the foot of the 3.5-kilometre Redmire climb at 8.1% the break's advantage had fallen to little more than one minute.
Wellens turns GC battle on its head
Wellens attacked with around 42 kilometres remaining and quickly bridged across towards the surviving escapees. His move split the race immediately, with Lewis Askey, Daan Hoole and Jasper Stuyven among those initially reported outside the front part of the peloton.
The Belgian took maximum points over Redmire before joining Bol at the head of the race. Behind, most of the principal GC contenders regrouped into a reduced chase containing Askey, Hoole, Stuyven, Matteo Trentin and Filippo Ganna.
Wellens and Bol continued to work together and still held around one minute with 10 kilometres remaining. Their advantage gradually fell, but the pair carried enough of a gap into the closing kilometres to contest the stage between themselves.
Bol stayed on Wellens' wheel into the final kilometre and launched his sprint inside the closing 100 metres to take victory, with Wellens crossing the line three seconds later. Fabio Christen led the chase home in third at 21 seconds, while Ganna finished fourth and Askey fifth, both 30 seconds behind the winner.
Those gaps were enough for Wellens to take over the Tour of Britain race lead after starting the day 12 seconds behind Askey, turning Stage 4 into the decisive GC swing of the race so far.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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