Sky duo Bradley Wiggins and Ian Stannard retained their respective first and second places on stage four of the Tour of Britain after seeing compatriot Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) sprint to victory in Llanberis.

Their team-mates drove the peloton until the final climb of the day. Stannard then came the fore on the Pen-y-Pass and Wiggins subsequently reacted without difficulty when Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) tested their legs and the opposition on the unsheltered Welsh climb.

Thus it was then left to the sprint teams to chase down an 11-man breakaway in the closing stages, and Wiggins and Stannard positioned themselves among a sizeable front bunch before Cavendish, to the delight of the home crowd, soared to a hard-fought victory over stage one winner Elia Viviani (Cannondale) and Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp).

The events of the ensured Wiggins defended his gold leader’s jersey with a 37-second advantage over his team-mate, and after the stage he was pleased with how the day had unfolded.

“It always looks easier than it is but it was tough out there. There was a lot of wind and cold weather but the boys did an incredible job. They rode all day to keep the gap at about three or four minutes, and then on the final climb, Ian took it up and did a really impressive job. The attacks started coming but I was always riding just a little bit within myself,” Wiggins explained on the team website.

“I knew the run-in as well because Sir Dave Brailsford lived in this town and it’s another day ticked off because there are no easy days in the Tour of Britain.”