Gregoire leads Tour of Britain after fourth stage win

Romain Gregoire leads the Tour of Britain with two stages left

France's Romain Gregoire won the fourth stage of the Tour of Britain to move top of the general classification.

The 22-year-old Groupama-Fdj rider edged out compatriot Julian Alaphilippe, who he overtook on the 100m uphill finish in the 186.9km stage then managed to keep his nose in front.

Gregoire crossed the line in four hours six minutes and 18 seconds, ahead of second-placed Alaphilippe with Italy's Edoardo Zambanini in third.

Britain's Sam Watson had been in the lead with half a kilometre to go in the longest stage of the tour, from Atherstone to Burton Dassett Hills Country Park, but was outpaced by Alaphilippe and Gregoire and eventually finished 15th.

Gregoire is now two seconds clear at the top of the overall standings, with Britain's Matthew Brennan in second, and does not plan to give the green jersey up easily with two stages of the race left.

"When you have a jersey like this you have the motivation to battle for it and that's what I'm going to do," Gregoire said.

"The atmosphere in the final climb was really good, really happy to win in front of the British crowd. It was a really big achievement for me."

Saturday's fifth, and penultimate, takes place in Wales with a 138.73km route from Pontypool to The Tumble.

Stage four results

1. Romain Gregoire (Fra/Groupama-Fdj) 4hrs 6mins 18secs

2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling) same time

3. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +2 secs

4. Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Fra/Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale Team) same time

5. Elias Maris (Bel/Team Flanders - Baloise)

6. Tim Torn Teutenberg (Ger/Lidl-Trek)

7. Toon Aerts (Bel/Lotto)

8. Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (Den/Unibet Tietema Rockets)

9. Brady Gilmore (Aus/Israel-Premier Tech)

10. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain Victorious)

General classification after stage four

1. Romain Gregoire (Fra/Groupama-Fdj) 13hrs 55mins 8secs

2. Matthew Brennan (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2secs

3. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling) + 4secs

4. Mats Wenzel (Lux/Equipo Kern Pharma) +6secs

5. Sam Watson (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +8secs

6. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) same time

7. Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (Den/Unibet Tietema Rockets) +9secs

8. Brady Gilmore (Aus/Israel-Premier Tech) +12secs

9. Milan Vader (Ned/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) same time

10. Tim Torn Teutenberg (Ger/Lidl-Trek)