Lizzie Armitstead leads Women's Tour after Marianne Vos stage win in Stoke

Lizzie Armitstead extended her lead in the Women's Tour despite being beaten by Marianne Vos in stage four in Stoke-on-Trent.

The former world champion powered clear in the closing moments of the 119km stage, which started in Nottingham, and pulled back 12 seconds on Armitstead to trail by 15 with one stage remaining.

Although the bonus seconds Vos earned moved her into fourth place overall, Armitstead managed to increase her lead over Ashleigh Moolman by three seconds to eight with bonuses for sprints earlier in the race.

Vos (Rabobank-Liv) was utterly dominant in the sprint and there clean air between her and second-placed Leah Kirchmann (Liv-Plantur).

Emma Johannson (Wiggle High5) took third with Armitstead managing to protect the yellow jersey by finishing in sixth place.

The final stage on Sunday over 133km is a largely flat run from Northampton to Kettering but with the standings so close a day full of attacks is to be expected.

Stage 4 result:

1 Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv 3hr 07m 00s

2 Leah Kirchmann (Can) Liv-Plantur

3 Emma Johansson (Swe) Wiggle High5

4 Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Boels-Dolmans

5 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Canyon SRAM 

Overall standings:

1 Lizzie Armitstead (Gbr) Boels-Dolmans

2 Ashleigh Moolman (Rsa) Cervelo-Bigla +8s

3 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle High5 +10s

4 Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv +15s

5 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Orica-AIS +17s