In this fourth stage of the WorldTour race, two riders quickly broke away from the peloton. The escapees built a solid lead, but as the pace in the peloton increased when the race split in the wind, the breakaway was reeled in with 50 kilometers to go.

With 40 kilometers remaining, the peloton—including the riders from the yellow-black team—came back together. In the final 20 kilometers, the race split in the wind once more. The yellow-black team positioned themselves well in the front group, but a bunch sprint was inevitable. In the final kilometer, McLay managed to compete with the best and sprinted to an impressive fourth place.
 

“I’m really happy with my sprint,” McLay said. “As a team, we’ve had some tough days, so this is definitely a bright spot. I knew there would be an opportunity to sprint in the last kilometer because of the wind, and to execute it this well is great—especially considering the top sprinters in this race. There are still some chances in the coming days, and I definitely hope to fight for another strong result.”

Sports director Jesper Mørkøv was also very satisfied but had mixed feelings due to the withdrawal of Thomas Gloag. “The day didn’t start well with Thomas dropping out, but as a team, we recovered really well. In the final phase, we positioned ourselves well at the front and stayed alert. That Daniel sprinted to fourth place in such a strong field is something we can be very pleased with.”