Englishman opens up two-second gap at top of standings
Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:47, UK
England’s Alex Dowsett moved into the overall lead of Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany by winning stage four’s individual time trial on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Movistar rider, who broke the world hour record earlier this month, negotiated a rolling 26.1km course in Hassfurt in 31min 33sec, which was one second faster than runner-up Tiago Machado (Katusha) and 16 seconds ahead of third-placed Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18).
The same three riders have all moved to the top three spots in the general classification, with Dowsett leading Machado by two seconds and Barta by 17 seconds.
It was Dowsett's first victory since last July’s Commonwealth Games time-trial and he will now look to defend the leader’s yellow jersey on Sunday's fifth and final stage, a rolling 197.8km route from Hassfurt to Nurnberg.
Stage four result
1 Alex Dowsett (GB) Movistar, 31:33
2 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha, +1sec
3 Jan Barta (Cze) Bora-Argon 18, +16
4 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltn) Cannondale-Garmin, +26
5 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin, +29
General classification
1 Alex Dowsett (GB) Movistar, 15:26:51
2 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha, +2secs
3 Jan Barta (Cze) Bora-Argon 18, +17
4 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltn) Cannondale-Garmin, +22
5 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin, +31
