Kiwi cyclist Paddy Bevin has nailed another podium finish on Stage Four of the Tour of Britain, extending his slender overall lead on Thursday morning (NZ time).
The BMC Racing picked up an impressive third place in the sprint finish won by Germany's Andre Greipel.
The Kiwi led the 183.5km stage with a few hundred metres remaining, before he was overtaken by Greipel.
"I was thinking, 'if you’re going to lead out into that last corner with 350 metres to go, you're not going to win, but you may run a podium and get some more time'," said Bevin after the race.
"When it got messy in that last kilometre, Jempy Drucker dropped me in there with about 400 metres to go, and I just came up on the inside of the corner and thought it was no good to be near the front, better to be on the front and just go.
"I was out there a long time and ran out of legs, but it was a nice little result at the end of the day."
It was the third podium finish for Bevin, who holds a four-second lead over Australia's Cameron Meyer in the general classification, with Stage Three winner Julian Alaphilippe six seconds back in third.
Friday's Stage Five is a 14km team time trial from Cockermouth to Whinlatter Pass in the Lake District.
Bevin said his team’s goal was to do well in the time trial.
"It's actually what we came here to target, so up until now, it’s all been a bit of a bonus," he added.
"It's a hard one to read. If any team has a bad day, they will lose lots of time and that's the overall over.
"We are going to turn up and do what we do at every team time trial, and we'll see how it all shakes out at the end of the day."
The tour finishes on Monday in central London.
Meanwhile, Nelson's George Bennett remains in the top 10 after Stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espana.
He's finished alongside his title rivals in the sprint finish to retain 10th place in the general classification.
Italian Alessandro de Marchi finished ahead of Bennett's group by 2m 2s, as he claimed his first stage win since 2014.
Bennett, 28, trails red jersey holder Simon Yates by 47 seconds in the general classification.
Friday's 12th stage is a 177.5km hilly ride from Mondonedo to Punta de Estaca de Bares in Galicia.
Newshub.