No other rider has been able to match Lorena Wiebes in the bunch sprints for some time, but the SD Worx-ProTime rider had to work for her third stage win of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.
On an aggressive, undulating stage through central Wales, Wiebes did just enough to stay in contention, infiltrating a leading group of seven on the final run-in to Hay-on-Wye which also included race leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar.
As the group swelled in the concluding kilometres, Wiebes fended off the challenge of the AG Insurance-Soudal rider in the sprint as she once again won with clear air between herself and her rivals.
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Movistar‘s Liane Lippert came through for second place with Le Court-Pienaar in third. With a 24-second lead over Lippert, the Mauritian champion looks to have all-but-secured her first WorldTour stage race victory, becoming just the third African rider in history achieve that feat.
The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will conclude on Sunday with a sprint stage in Leamington Spa, an opportunity for Wiebes to add to her win tally.
Stage four was characterised by two categorised climbs in the final 30km, which were targeted as launchpads for attacks. However, the most decisive split happened due to a crash, as FDJ United-SUEZ Lauren Dickson came down after crossing wheels with team-mate Kate Courtney.
The incident meant that around 20 riders were held up, including Le Court-Pienaar. A furious chase and further attacks followed, but in the end it all finished just as Wiebes would have wanted, allowing the Dutchwoman to use her unrivalled sprint to take her 136th career victory.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
How it happened
The 138km fourth stage of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women between Llanidloes and Hay-on-Wye was among the toughest of the race, with a constantly undulating course through central Wales.
Starting the day with five riders within 1:30 of Le Court-Pienaar’s lead, Lidl-Trek were keen to use their numbers, sending white jersey Fleur Moors on the attack early on. She was caught by Dilyxine Miermont (Picnic-PostNL) and Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility) with 42km left on an aggressive day of racing.
Going into the final pair of climbs which would provide the decisive test of the stage, the gap to the leaders was down under a minute. FDJ United-SUEZ drilled the pace from the bottom of the climb of Hendoed through reigning champion Ally Wollaston, before American champion Kate Courtney took over in support of Lauren Dickson.
With the peloton stretched out and under pressure there was a crash in the final 500 metres as Dickson crossed wheels with Courtney, holding up Le Court-Pienaar among more than a dozen others. The incident caused a split in the bunch which Le Court-Pienaar quickly closed, but several key riders, including Dickson, Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team l’Imad) and Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-ProTime), were caught behind.
After a furious chase, the group came back together with 26km and one final climb to go. Attacks flew over the following kilometres, but Le Court-Pienaar appeared serene, effortlessly closing gaps by herself without team-mates to support her.
On the final climb of Clyro Hill, Movistar led out Liane Lippert for an attack, with the race leader in her wheel. Bredewold chased behind for Wiebes to keep the gap honest. Over the top, the chase group had splintered, with a group of five joining the leading pair on the flat run to Hay-on-Wye. Behind, QoM leader Dickson crashed again and gave up the chase in some pain, dropping out of the top-10 overall.
The front seven were working well together but were caught by a pursuing quintet with 5km to go. Another group came back in the final kilometre, making a large front group at the finish.
Wiebes launched her sprint from the front and was initially challenged by Le Court-Pienaar, but there was no stopping the Dutchwoman, who once again proved herself to be the fastest.
Results
Tour of Britain Women 2026, stage 4: Llanidloes > Hay-on-Wye, 138.3km
1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime in 3:41:13
2. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar
3. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal
4. Kate Courtney (USA) FDJ United-SUEZ
5. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) Picnic-PostNL
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L’Imad
7. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
8. Millie Couzens (GBr) Fenix-Premier Tech
9. Fleur Moors (Bel) Lidl-Trek
10. Josie Talbot (Aus) Liv-AlUla-Jayco, all same time
General Classification after stage 4
1. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 13:59:35
2. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, +24s
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +29s
4. Caroline Andersson (Swe) Liv AlUla Jayco, +39s.
5. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team L’Imad, +46s
7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
8. Cecile Uttrup Ludwid (Den) Canyon-SRAM, both s.t.
9. Josie Nelson (GBr) Picnic-PostNL, +56s
10. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +1:06
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