Storm Ingebrigtsen takes solo stage 4 win at Tour of Denmark, Wout van Aert stays in blue

Ingebrigtsen's solo attack

Storm Ingebrigtsen won the fourth stage of the Tour of Denmark on Saturday, attacking from a breakaway group with 3 kilometres remaining to take a solo victory in Faaborg. The 21-year-old Norwegian from Uno-X Mobility had been part of a seven-rider escape that formed after 75 kilometres of the 172.6 km stage from Rudkobing, a route with no significant climbs. The move was initiated by Danish riders Christophe Juul-Jensen and Stian Rosenlund (AIRTOX-Carl Ras), and also included Sébastien Grignard (Lotto-Intermarché), Axel Källberg (Lucky Sport), Tommaso Bessega (Polti VisitMalta), and Francesco Carollo (Swatt Club). With 46.5 km to go, as the race entered the local finishing circuits, the group held a 1:45 advantage over the peloton, where Visma-Lease a Bike controlled the pace to protect Wout van Aert's overall lead. Carollo was dropped before the final 15 km lap, when the gap still stood at 1:21. Källberg tried a solo move with less than 10 km to go, but was caught after 3 km. Ingebrigtsen then launched his winning attack at the 3 km mark, crossing the line 15 seconds ahead of Bessega, with Källberg third. The peloton finished 20 seconds behind the winner. It was Ingebrigtsen's second professional victory, following a stage win at the Tour of Norway last year.

Van Aert's streak ends, lead intact

Wout van Aert had won the opening three stages of the race, the first time in his career he had taken three consecutive stage wins. On stage 4, the Belgian did not contest the sprint, finishing 12th in the peloton. He gained an additional bonus second during an intermediate sprint, extending his overall lead to 21 seconds over Slovakian Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets). Danish rider Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) sits third at 28 seconds, with van Aert's teammate Christophe Laporte fourth at 29 seconds and Soren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) fifth at 39 seconds.

The biggest goal today was to strengthen our position in the general classification. It was a contested race in which we had to stay alert and keep control of the situation. It was up to the other teams to try and fight for the stage win, but in the end the escapees showed they were the strongest today.

Van Aert, who won the Tour of Denmark overall in 2018, said his focus is now on bringing the leader's jersey home. He also expressed hope that Laporte, a close friend, could join him on the final podium.

Tomorrow, the most important thing will be to bring the leader's jersey home. Christophe is one of my best friends. It would be nice to be together on the podium tomorrow. We will try to achieve that.

Final stage

The Tour of Denmark concludes on Sunday with a 126-kilometre ultra-flat stage from Koge to Rodovre. Van Aert, already a three-time stage winner this week, will have another opportunity to add to his tally, but his primary objective remains securing the overall victory.