Mark Cavendish won the 4th stage of the Tour Colombia this Friday. After a bumpy stage, he managed to leave his rivals behind in a massive sprint. Fernando Gaviria had to settle for second place.
Escape of the day
On the fourth day of the Tour Colombia, a 181.8 km stage from Paipa to Zipaquirá was scheduled. On the way, the runners faced two fourth-category climbs and one third-category climb.
The stage seemed promising for the escape, due to its rugged profile. And an escape actually occurred with 9 cyclists, right at the beginning of the race.
The unfolding of the stage
In the first sixty kilometers, the nine runners gained a four-minute advantage. The escape, however, was short-lived. In the mountainous part of the stage, the peloton broke away. At this point there were still seventy kilometers to go. And so, a sprint finish became closer.
Final stage in massive sprint
Movistar and Astana Qazaqstan appeared to be satisfied with the situation. Both teams had a potential winner in their ranks with Mark Cavendish and Fernando Gaviria.
However, there was a new attack attempt thirty kilometers from the end. The trio Julián Cardona (Team Medellin), Laureano Rosas (Swift Carbon Pro Cycling) and Alexander Gil (Orgulo Paisa) tried their luck. The effort resulted in a fifty-second advantage.
However, the fugitives’ efforts proved in vain in the final phase. The Corratec-Vini Fantini and Bingoal WB teams wanted to give their sprinters a chance and worked to catch up with the escapees. In this way, the peloton managed to reduce the advantage by just a few kilometers.
It became clear that it would be a mass sprint. In this sprint, Mark Cavendish won after excellent work from Michael Mørkøv, Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) came close but had to settle for second place. Nelson Soto (Petrolike) took the last place on the podium.
Watch the arrival
Results of the 4th stage of the Tour Colombia
