Andrea Guardini took his second stage win in the Tour of Denmark in convincing fashion when he powered clear of his rivals in the bunch sprint on the morning stage. The Italian praised his teammate Alexey Lutsenko for being instrumental in delivering him to the win.

Going into the Tour of Denmark, Andrea Guardini hadn’t won a race in Europe since the 2012 Giro d’Italia but now he seems to finally have left his many disappointments behind. Having already won stage 2, the Italian added the short stage 4 to his tally by taking a dominant sprint win in the rainy city of Odense.

All day he and his Astana teammates hid in the peloton and made sure to stay attentive in the windy conditions while allowing Tinkoff-Saxo, Lotto Belisol and Bardiani to do the work. A strong front duo nearly derailed their plans as they were only brought back inside the final kilometre but it came down to the expected bunch sprint. Here Guardini proved to be in a class of his own and easily beat Tom Van Asbroeck and Filippo Fortin.

Guardini praised teammate Alexey Lutsenko for strong support in the short, flat stage, and said after his second win this week that he felt his equilibrium returning after a season of misfortune.

“Lutsenko is so strong," he said. "In the final turn at 500m to go he went to the front and made the victory for me."

Riders met with strong winds and warm rain almost immediately after the start, but no one team was strong enough to break up the peloton into echelons, and a small breakaway held on until the final 150m of the day. Guardini also praised his tires, in fact kissing the wheels immediately after his victory.

In the evening the riders will contest a 15km time trial in nearby Middelfart. Lutsenko is 13th overall, 30 seconds behind the race leader but just nine seconds from the podium, while teammate Valerio Agnoli is 12th, 27 seconds back.