Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias) took Tour of Britain stage four after he and two companions got away from the decisive 26-rider attack on the Cow and Calf climb just outside Bradford.
Palomares beat Belgian Tom Stubbe (Chocolade Jacques) and fellow Spaniard David Blanco (Duja Tavira), finishing 12 seconds ahead of the chasers. Thanks to the ten-second time bonus for winnig the stage, Palomares also pulled on the race leader's yellow jersey after Nikolai Trusov (Tinkoff) finished in the main bunch 57 seconds adrift of the attackers.
Palomares now leads Blanco by a second. Australia's Luke Roberts (CSC) is third at eight seconds. Romain Feillu (Agritubel) won the sprint for fourth place 12 seconds after the leaders passed the finish line. Highest placed British rider was John Bellis at 7th. British rider Ben Swift retains the King of the Mountains jersey.
The day's racing was marred by a bizarre neutralised section through North Yorkshire as a result of no permission being given to the event organisers to enable them to race on the area's roads. Officials and police neutralised the racing for 21 miles and escorted the riders on semi-open roads until they left the North Yorkshire roads.
The stage was dedicated to the memory of cycing cancer campaigner Jane Tomlinson, who died recently. Her husband Mike and son Steven presented the prizes on the podium.
TOUR OF BRITAIN: STAGE FOUR RESULTS
1 Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias) 163.3km in 2-43-41
2 Tom Stubbe (Chocolade Jacques)
3 David Blanco (Duja Tavira) all same time.
4 Romain Feillu (Agritubel) at 12 secs
5 Alexander Serov (Tinkoff)
6 David Munoz Banon (Fuerteventura-Canarias)
7 John Bellis (Great Britain)
8 Martin Garrido (Duja Tavira)
9 Simon Clarke (South Australia.com-AIS)
10 Piet Rooijakkers (Skil-Shimano) all at same time.
OVERALL AFTER STAGE FOUR
1 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias in 13-47-30
2 David Blanco (Spa) Duja Tavira at 1sec
3 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC at 8secs
4 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano at 9secs
5 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel at 11secs
6 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja Tavira at 14secs
7 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS at 17secs
8 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano at same time
9 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS at 18secs
10 Manuel Lloret Zaragozi (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias at 20secs
RELATED LINKS
Tour of Britain Yorkshire stage neutralised
Click here to see a gallery of photos from Tour of Britain stage three
Cavendish angry with British riders after losing ToB yellow jersey
Tour of Britain: Trusov takes stage two
Cavendish celebrates tenth win in Southampton
Stage one: Cavendish wins again
Click here to view a gallery of photos from the Tour of Britain prologue
Cavendish: Surprised by prologue win
Cavendish wins Tour of Britain prologue
Tour of Britain 2007 preview
Official site: www.tourofbritain.co.uk.
