Frenchman Paul Magnier beat British rider Ethan Vernon to the line in a bunch sprint finish to claim stage four of the Tour of Britain on Friday.
Victory for the Soudal Quick-Step rider on the 138.5km route from Derby to Newark-on-Trent was his second of this year’s tour after he also won Tuesday’s opening stage.
The 20-year-old was led out by his compatriot and team-mate Julian Alaphilippe, the two-time world champion, before surging to victory to regain the lead in the points classification.
Vernon, who rides for Israel–Premier Tech, finished second and Uno-X Mobility’s Norwegian Erlend Blikra came third.
The top five in the overall standings is unchanged, with Israel–Premier Tech’s Stevie Williams 16 seconds clear of fellow Briton Oscar Onley, of Team dsm–firmenich PostNL.
Stage five of the UK’s biggest race moves to Northampton on Saturday before it concludes with stage six, which ends in Felixstowe on Sunday.
Stage four results
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Paul Magnier (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step) 3hrs 11mins 54secs
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Ethan Vernon (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) Same time
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Erlend Blikra (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)
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Noah Hobbs (GB/Groupama-FDJ Conti)
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Matevz Govekar (Slo/Bahrain Victorious)
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Robert Donaldson (GB/Trinity Racing)
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Ethan Hayter (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)
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Rory Townsend (Ire/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
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Casper van Uden (Ned/Team dsm–firmenich PostNL)
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Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)
General classification
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Stephen Williams (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) 14hrs 50mins 47secs
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Oscar Onley (GB/Team dsm–firmenich PostNL) +16secs
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Mark Donovan (GB/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +40secs
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Joseph Blackmore (GB/Israel–Premier Tech) +41secs
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Tom Donnenwirth (Fra/Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale Development Team) Same time
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Louis Sutton (GB/Great Britain) +1min 5secs
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Paul Magnier (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step +1min 21secs
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Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Soudal–Quick-Step) +1min 33secs
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Jelte Krijnsen (Ned/Pro Cycling Team) +1min 42secs
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Edoardo Zambanini (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +1min 43secs