Mitchelton - Scott's reigning TDU champion managed to cut the gap on his rival Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) as he sprinted to victory, crossing the line first in Campbelltown, taking his first victory of the 2019 season.
A breakaway of six formed as soon as the flag was dropped; Thomas de Gendt (Lotto - Soudal) obviously fancied his chances on today's stage, and was joined by Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain - Merida), Miles Scotson (Groupama - FDJ), Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) and Nic White (UniSA - Australia) - quite a strong break if I do say so myself!
All intermediate sprints and KOM classification climbs weren't contested on today's Stage, with everyone very happy to leave Peter Sagan (BORA - Hansgrohe) and Jason Lea (UniSA - Australia) in their respective jerseys.
The group pushed onto a lead of over 5 minutes, and it wasn't until closer to the finish that their lead started to slip - with 20km to go they just had a slim advantage of 1 minute, and it was pretty obvious that they'd eventually be caught. Scotson and de Gendt jumped clear of the rest of the break hoping they could take advantage of the 10km descent to the finish and stay clear, but the six were back together soon again.
Wout Poels (Team Sky) was the first of the GC men to make a move, pushing forward on a left-turning hairpin in an effort to distance both Daryl Impey & race-leader Patrick Bevin. George Bennett (Jumbo - Visma) countered his move, but they, and Michael Woods (EF - Education First) & Richie Porte (Trek - Segafredo), swiftly started working together to get as far away from Bevin's group as possible.
In the end, it just wasn't to be - with the reduced peleton (including Impey & Bevin) catching the climbers in the 7.5km-long descent in Campbelltown. Like yesterday's Stage, Astana's Sanchez was the first to pounce at the finish line, with Patrick Bevin using his slipstream to attempt to get his second victory, but it was the South African Road Race champion Daryl Impey who managed to get his wheels over the line first - cutting Bevin's lead down to just 7 seconds.
Official Results obtained from procyclingstats
Stage 4 Results;
GC Standings after Stage 4;
Jersey Holders for Stage 5;
Leader's Jersey - Patrick Bevin (CCC Team)
Point's Jersey - Peter Sagan (BORA - Hansgrohe) on behalf of Patrick Bevin (CCC Team)
KOM Jersey - Jason Lea (UniSA - Australia)
Young Rider's Jersey - Chris Hamilton (Team Sunweb)
Team - UAE - Team Emirates
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