Team NetApp-Endura had a very bad day in the Tour of Britain. GC riders Leopold König and Jan Barta both lost time to their key rivals while Scott Thwaites went down in a crash in the finale.

Leo König was able to defend his eighth place ranking in the general classification in the fourth stage of the Tour of Britain, which covered 185 kilometers from Worcester to Bristol. The captain of Team NetApp-Endura crossed the finish line in 14th place, just six seconds behind a sextet of other riders. After launching a late attack on the three-kilometer final climb, Michal Kwiatkowski clinched today’s stage win, relegating Albert Timmer – who had ridden with a nine-man lead group – to second place.

“Today definitely wasn’t our day. Scott, who would have been perfect for the final stretch, had a mechanical ten kilometers before the finish line and had to get off his bike. After that it took a lot of energy to return to the field. As if that weren’t enough bad luck, he ended up crashing hard into the barriers just before the finish line. He suffered some cuts and bruises and his helmet broke – we can really be glad that he is doing well and that nothing serious happened. Leo and Jan unfortunately lost a few seconds as well. With all that bad luck, we really can’t be satisfied with the outcome of today’s stage. Right now we are looking ahead to the next few days,” concluded Enrico Poitschke, Sport Director of Team NetApp-Endura.

Tomorrow’s fifth stage will take the riders along a 177-kilometer arc through Devonshire in southwest England. The route has another hilly profile, although the most difficult climbs will come in the first third of the race this time. The race promises to be exciting, since the last of three mountain classifications comes just one kilometer before the finish line in Exeter.