Bob Jungels put in a superb ride in the Vuelta a Espana breakaway to lead the race onto the mighty Alto de L’Angliru.
The Luxembourger forged his way into the day’s big move on the flat opening to the stage and proved to the be the strongest of the 25 riders on three back to back late climbs to conclude stage 13.
Jungels and Nicolas Vinokurov (XDS Astana Team) were the last riders remaining from the break, with Jungels forging clear solo on the early slopes. His performance earned him the most combative rider of the day award.
Egan Bernal retained 12th overall at the summit after settling into his own rhythm from the early slopes of the Angliru. The stage win saw a battle between podium challengers Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). Almeida was able to edge out the win on the day, while Vingegaard now holds a 46-second overall advantage.
After the stage Jungels said: “We weren’t very optimistic from the start, as we knew it was probably going to be a GC day. Yet, if you don’t try, you never know. I felt very good legs and wanted to be in the break, as I was. I also managed to pull 2 kilometers for Egan in the final climb. It was worth it. It was a good day - just not enough to win.
“The Angliru is one of those iconic climbs in cycling. Everybody is afraid of it yet, on the other hand, we are also happy to do it. It’s brutal, but it’s nice to experience it.
“There were a lot of good riders in the break. I was thinking of a similar situation I had a couple of months ago in Austria, and knew it was my strength to go on a steady, high rhythm throughout the race and sustain it towards the end. It’s just a shame it wasn’t enough.”
Stage four provided the most undulating test yet at the Tour of Britain, with the INEOS Grenadiers putting on an attacking showing in Burton Dassett.
After some great positioning work on the run-in, AJ August was perfectly placed to follow a big attack on the first ascent of the finishing climb, going clear in a move which included Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick-Step).
The quartet would be shut down during the subsequent lap, and on the final climb it would be Sam Watson who hit out early.
The Brit opened up the uphill sprint but eventually finished 15th, yet would move up to fifth place overall with two stages remaining.
Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) bested the uphill kick and also moved into the overall race lead.