Not for the first time in his young career, Mathieu Van der Pol (Corendon Circus) left a world-class field behind him. On stage 4 of the Tour of Britain, the 24-year-old, who is on the verge of the UCI Road World Championships, showed once again that he is a real contender for the rainbow jersey.

Van der Pol attacked ferociously, leaving his rivals behind with around 300 meters to go. After the finish, the Tour de France stage winner said, "The Dutchman made his rivals look like juniors.

The margin of victory may have been only three seconds, but it was the manner of the win that left everyone speechless.

"It was a bit of a gamble because I didn't know where the finish line was," said van der Pol as he warmed down on the roller stand.

"Yesterday I got boxed in at the finish and I didn't want that to happen again today. That's why I went full throttle with 300m to go. Normally I'm a bit far, but I made a gap right away, and with 100 meters to go the road got a little easier, and that gap was big enough to last me all the way to the finish."

The Corendon Circus rider has not raced 30 days on the road this year, but his 2019 results have been spectacular, eclipsing all logic regarding his typical race program and path to success.

He is winning on average once every three days, an honor that includes victories at the Grand Prix de Dunain, Dwars door Hlaanderen, De Brabanthe Pyle, Amstel Gold Race, a stage at the Norwegian Arctic Race, and Tuesday's Tour of Britain. He has a solid season record. He is also a force to be reckoned with in cyclo-cross and mountain biking.

"I'm happy to win a stage. It was a really hard stage with a lot of climbing," van der Pol said.

"I think the team was perfect. Together with Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) we controlled the race and at the end we were able to get back to the leading group to sprint.

Corendon Circus led the peloton for most of the stage, holding off Team Ineos attacks. And before Van der Pol could get a clean run, three riders, including James Shaw, reeled in late, with Jasper De Baist (Lotto Soudal) and Simon Clark finishing second and third, respectively.

"That wasn't really the plan, but the break was so strong that I had to take control with Mitchelton Scott," said Shaw. I knew the finish would suit me if I had good legs." I was confident I could finish well."

As a result of his stage win, Van der Pol leads the Tour of Britain after four stages, while Trentin has been kicked out of the green jersey and drops to second place overall by one second.

"It's definitely going to be a battle," Van der Pol stressed on Thursday of the 14.4-km individual time trial on stage 6.

"I think the time trial will be decisive. It's been a long time since I've done a time trial. It will be difficult to go toe-to-toe with the best time trialists."

Given his condition, few would bet against Van der Pol having another great run in the time trial.