Etixx - Quick-Step rider Zdenek Stybar finished 4th, as the peloton drastically reduced in number heading into the final kilometers of 166.4km Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 5 on Thursday. Wout Poels (Team Sky) won out of a late race attack group, going over the top of Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN - Qhubeka) in the final meters of Category 1 1 Hartside Fell. Benat Intxausti (Movistar) finished 3rd.

Stybar finished 18" down to Poels. The race came back together with 9.8km remaining, but riders attacked out of the smaller peloton consistently from that point until the finish. A four rider group went up the road in the late kilometers when Boasson Hagen took his chance, with only Poels being able to follow.

Stybar is now 7th GC, 38" down on Boasson Hagen in the race lead.

Fernando Gaviria, winner of Stage 4 for Etixx - Quick-Step, did not take the start. Etixx - Quick-Step rider Petr Vakoc also withdrew after a Stage 3 crash in the leader's jersey, so Etixx - Quick-Step is down to four riders heading into 192.7km Stage 6 on Friday. The stage is sharply up-and-down, with three Category 2 climbs to pass in addition to many other punchy, uncategorized sections. The arrival is slightly uphill.