The courageous note on Wednesday came from Juanjo Lobato’s five team-mates at the Tour of Britain, the Andalusian keeping his yellow leader’s jersey after another long stage four (217.4km) in Endura’s Scotland, from Edinburgh to Blyth.

A six-man breakaway, including Matteo Trentin and Danilo Wyss within 20” of the race lead, forced Izagirre, Intxausti, Antón, Fernández and a sensational Alex Dowsett to keep gaps tight from the very start, Sky, Lotto and Etixx coming to help them out later on.

Colombian Fernando Gaviria took the sprint win as Boasson Hagen (MTN) finished in 3rd, taking four bonus seconds that reduce Lobato’s lead to six. The Trebujena-based rider will nonetheless be more worried about tomorrow’s steep Hartside finish, where the telephone squad will seek for its numerous chances.

"The team did an incredible job today. Sorry I could not do the best finish but this is not over. We have courage in the team," he tweeted after the stage before adding. "I want to especially thank @alexdowsett and @IgorAntonH for chasing, thanks guys."