—- Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) pulled out a performance of the highest degree to seal victory on stage four of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men in Leyburn as Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) moved into the overall race lead following a climbing masterclass from his team. 

North Yorkshire, in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, played host to the queen stage of this year’s race with a feast of high category climbs and blustery conditions on the heights of the moors facing the peloton as they rolled out from Helmsley which was bathed in late morning sun. 

Six riders were quick to move off the front, including Yorkshireman Ben Swift (Netcompany INEOS) who had been waved on by his family at the start. The veteran, on the penultimate stage of his racing career in the UK, was joined by Bol, Xando Muerisse (Pinorello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Ian Lopez (Modern Adventure), Brem Deman (Team Flanders Baloise) and Boas Lysgaard (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm). 

The group established a strong lead of over four minutes at one point, before soon passing the only intermediate sprint point of the day at Ripon, which was taken by Lopez. The young American did not stop there, however, and quickly also sealed maximum points on the first two King of the Mountain ascents at Greenhow and Kidstones. 

It was on Kidstones, a second category climb, that UAE Team Emirates began to drive the chase in the peloton behind in aid of Wellens, who sat second on GC, just 12 seconds adrift, at the beginning of the day. The breaks advantage was eliminated as the race hit the toughest, and final, categorised climb of the day at the first category Redmire.

Here, the work done by his teammates saw Wellens able to launch his attack midway on the climb, with only best young rider Elliot Rowe (Great Britain Cycling Team) able to follow for the time being, as the duo soon caught the remnants of the break. 

Rowe could not cope with the pace being set by Wellens, with Bol now the only man who could follow the wheel of the Belgian, with the gap to the chasing group containing the race favourites and current leader Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling Team) growing ever greater. 

Wellens led Bol over the summit of Redmire, with the pair continuing to drive on to hold onto the advantage they had set, which hovered between a minute and 1:30 for the following 30km. 

NSN and Netcompany INEOS kept belief behind that the leaders could be caught and they had cut the deficit to just over 30 seconds as the final drag to Leyburn came into view, but there was to be no such luck as Bol, the faster of the leading duo, soon pushed on to be the first across the line, taking his second career Lloyds Tour of Britain stage win. 

Wellens can thank the supreme performance of his team for their aid in reversing the order of the top two GC positions, as well as his own magnificent performance, which coincidentally saw him take the combativity award for the stage. 

The Belgian now leads the race by 21 seconds from Askey, while the Brit can take small consolation from the day as he regains the lead in the points competition, in which he holds a three point advantage over earlier stage victors, Tim Merlier (Fix All Quick-Step) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team).

Rowe continues his impressive race performance on the day, retaining the lead in the young riders competition, while Michal Schuran (Team United Shipping) heads the King of the Mountains classification surviving its toughest challenge of the week, though his lead is now cut to just four points from Meurisse, with another three second category climbs to come on the final stage.  

On his victory, Bol said: “The win was unexpected for me. I was going in the break to actually help my teammate Dan [Hoole]. I found myself in the leading group on the top of the last climb and I knew the stage win was possible. 

“I was suffering really hard because there was still a small hill two kilometres to go and Tim was really keeping the pace high there. All my other pro victories are from a sprint, but this is the first one from the breakaway, I enjoyed it.”

New race leader Wellens said: “I said at the beginning of the stage that I felt super good, so I had confidence on the climb, but I didn’t know how good Askey was because it’s not easy to drop somebody. The team went all out when Felix [Grossschartner] and Benoit [Cosnefroy] started pulling.

“I’m feeling really good but tomorrow can be hectic. Hopefully there are some climbs and maybe in the beginning some rain, I hope the advantage will be enough to keep the green jersey until the end.”

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men winner will be crowned on Sunday when the spectacle concludes in the Scottish Borders, with the village of Earlston hosting a stage for the first time.

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