Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) finished inside the top 10 on stage 4 of the Tour of Britain, but it was not enough to retain the leader's jersey as he was passed by stage winner Mathieu Van der Pol (Corendon Circus) in Kendal It was not enough to hold on to the leader's jersey.

Trentin and his team worked tirelessly to control a difficult day in the saddle. After Team Ineos and several other teams attacked on the GC stage, they held the lead over the Italians, and the former European road champion joined the fray as the finale approached.

Trentin himself made several attempts in the closing stages, but was unable to stop Van der Poel, who jumped out on the final climb near the 300 meters to go. Jasper De Baist (Lotto Soudal) and Simon Clark (EF Education First) rounded out the top three, with Trentin just three seconds behind.

Van der Pol now leads Trentin by 1 second with 4 stages to go.

"Tomorrow we'll leave it to the sprinter teams. I'll leave it to the sprinter teams tomorrow. If they get the breakaway back, it will probably be a sprint," Trenčín told Cycling News as he returned to the team bus.

"I think the time trial (stage 5, ed.) will decide the race.

Trentin, like Mathieu Van der Pol, will lead his country at the world championships in Yorkshire later this month, but after finishing fourth in 2017, Trentin has the credentials and form to count the Dutchman among the leading contenders He believes he has the credentials and form to be counted as one of the favourites.

"He can be one of the favorites to win the World Championships. He won Amstel Gold. He won Amstel Gold. Or he wasn't used to it.

"He's certainly one of the favorites to win, but let's see what happens. Few riders can match him in these finishes. He left us behind like a bunch of juniors. We'll see what happens."