Sonny Colbrelli got very close to a big win in today's stage of the Tour of Britain. The Italian won the sprint of the peloton but as the early break narrowly stayed away, it was only good enough for fourth.

Sonny Colbrelli again proved that he is very strong in hilly terrain when he survived the late climb in today's stage of the Tour of Britain before beating Ben Swift in the sprint. Unfortunately, it was only good enough for fourth as the break had decided the stage.

Bardiani had contributed to the chase in the final 20km but with small 6-rider teams, they never caught the break. Colbrelli regretted the missed opportunity but hopes to win one of the upcoming stage to get selected for the Italian team for the Worlds.

”I’m sad because when you win the sprint from a chasing group, it is like a lost opportunity," he said. "The last km were really tricky and this did not help our pursuit. We hit the final climb with about one minute, we climbed really fast but it wasn’t enough to bridge to all the escapees.

"Today I wanted to do well because the route suited me and at the same time it was important for the selection for the upcoming World Championships. Anyway, the good thing is that my shape is growing day by day and from tomorrow to London I aim to ahieve a better result."

"To only have 6 riders is not easy and today this aspect helped the breakaway," sports director Roberto Reverberi said. "We pulled really strong in front of the peloton for the last 20km, the gap went down but we missed some collaboration from the other teams that were in front for a big part of the stage but disappeared in the key moment.

"Sonny did a good sprint, he beat strong riders, showing a good shape. He had a chance to win but this is cycling and we have to accept what happened. Tomorrow we’ll back in the saddle with the right attitude to do better."