Tour of Britain photos

As many will know, the Tour of Britain passed just south of the village yesterday as Stage Four took the riders from Stoke-on-Trent to Llanberis via Market Drayton, Calverhall and Whitchurch. The photos, kindly sent in by Gary Suggate, were taken on the road to Calverhall from Market Drayton.

The top photo shows Team Sky and Sir Bradley Wiggins leading the Peloton and the second photo the leading breakaway group that passed a few minutes earlier.

The opening two-thirds of yesterday's stage featured three intermediate sprints, while the final third contained three categorised climbs. The final one – Pen-y-Pass – is in the shadow of Mount Snowdon before the riders sped downhill to the finish in Llanberis.

British champion Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory in an exciting end to the stage. Team Sky's British duo Bradley Wiggins and Ian Stannard both finished in the main bunch to remain first and second in the overall standings.

Cavendish powered ahead of stage one winner Elia Viviani of Cannondale and Steele Von Hoff of Garmin Sharp. A breakaway of 11 riders were clear for much of the day before being caught with 1km left to set up the finish.

Today, Thursday, sees Stage 5 from Machynlleth to Caerphilly, a distance of 177.1km. On paper, it is the toughest day of climbing, with four category one ascents for the riders to negotiate as the race heads south through mid-Wales and into the Brecon Beacons, where the riders will tackle the longest climb of the race at 6.7km to its highest point at around 439m.

The race then heads down to the finish in Caerphilly via two ascents of the mountain named after the town it overlooks.

The Tour finishes on Sunday with a 10-lap race around the centre of London which starts on Whitehall and takes the riders along the Embankment and out to the Tower of London before returning, via the Houses of Parliament, onto Whitehall.

The pan-flat stage should ensure a bunch sprint finish. A one-hour women's race will be contested in the morning, with the men's race concluding after lunch.

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