Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), who won two of the first three stages, is a woman who can win the Women's Tour, or any race that is a sprint contest. On stage 3, Wiebes showed her strength and versatility, and also took advantage of the lack of cooperation in the day's lead group to take the win in Gloucester. Heading into Thursday's stage 4, she indicated her intention to make it three wins in a row. The third stage win, which followed her second stage victory the day before, was the 23-year-old Dutchwoman's 10th win of the season. The only times she has failed to win in a group sprint were in the Bourges des Pannes, where she was forced to sprint after breaking a spoke, and in the first stage of the women's Tour, where she crashed on a left-hand corner with 300 meters to go.

Stage 3 victory was something Wiebes had to contend with, but after the race fell apart in the hills with 24km to go, she and teammate Megan Jastrab were forced to chase hard to get back to the front. And in addition to the stage win, Vives took the yellow leader's jersey. The lack of cooperation in the front group had a major impact on how the race unfolded: the 17 riders in the front group were unable to establish a rhythm where all or most of them took turns holding off the chase group. The chase group doubled in size to 34 riders, 19 of whom had teammates.

However, all was not equal in the lead group: Lijanne Marx (Team Jumbo Visma) was in the breakaway group from the beginning of the stage and could not assist sprinter Colin Labecchi much. Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope), Jos Roden (Uno X Pro Cycling Team), and Sara Martin were the only riders from their teams.

Team Bike Exchange-Jayco, with Alexandra Manley, who finished second on stage 2, and Canyon SRAM, with Shari Bossuit, who finished third on stage 2, were the two teams, with Kristen Faulkner, Elise Chaby, and Katarzyna Niewiadoma repeatedly Attempts were made to break away from the pack, but this clearly did nothing to increase group cohesion, and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB also made no substitutions, placing their trust in Vives and sprinter Letizia Borghesi, who was in the 32-man chase group.

Only Ashley Moolman-Pasio and Christine Majerus of Team SD Works were committed to making the break. Moolman-Pasio saw this as a chance to make up time in her quest for GC. Majerus attacked early in the stage and initially struggled to keep up with the freshers, but later took over at the front and was seen making the familiar stirring motion with her index finger to ask the others for help.

However, Team DSM, Serratigit-WNT, Liv Racing-Stra, and other teams did their best to chase the lead group, but all to no avail. The two groups merged in the last 10 km, giving Vives another sprint victory.

The race heads to Wales: Stage 4 from Wrexham to Welshpool is hilly, but even with a reduced peloton it could be a sprint affair. Weaves declared after the third stage, "I will go all out tomorrow, aiming for third place," expressing confidence in his climbing ability.

But even if she wins stage 4, stage 5, which finishes at the summit of the Black Mountains, will end her yellow jersey spell. The 5.5km climb with an average gradient of 5.6% is too tough for sprinters to overcome, and Vives will have to wait until stage 6 for her next sprint opportunity.