Sport

Roche and Martin finish in main bunch in Tour of Britain stage four

Both remain close to the general classification contenders but Martin slips to fifth

Dan Martin is fifth overall after four stages of the tour of Britian. Photograph: Inpho
Dan Martin is fifth overall after four stages of the tour of Britian. Photograph: Inpho
Shane Stokes
Wed Sept 07 2016 - 21:05

Both Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin finished in the main bunch on stage four of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday, placing 30th and 37th respectively behind the sprint winner Dylan Groenewegen (Team LottoNl-Jumbo).

Both remain close to the general classification contenders, although time bonuses on the road to Builth Wells saw two riders, Ben Swift (Team Sky) and Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal), pick up time bonuses and move past Martin. As a result he dropped from third to fifth overall.

He will begin stage five one minute and four seconds behind the ongoing race leader Julien Vermote, his Etixx-QuickStep teammate. Roche is tenth overall and stays second in the King of the Mountains competition.

Shane Stokes

Shane Stokes

Shane Stokes is a contributor to The Irish Times writing about cycling