Aussie Brown takes lead in Women's Tour

Australian Grace Brown has claimed her first Women's Tour stage victory and taken the overall lead in the British race with two days to go after a sprint finish in Welshpool.

Brown, of the FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope team, was part of a three-rider surge at the end of the 144.7km fourth stage from Wrexham on Thursday.

She held off the challenge of Italian Elisa Longo Borghini, who despite making a break for the line eventually finished third behind Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma.

The 29-year-old Camperdown rider now leads Niewiadoma by four seconds and Longo Borghini by six heading into Friday's queen stage in Carmarthenshire, which finishes with a tough climb to the top of Black Mountain, which has gradient of 21 per cent in places.

"I was pretty happy. I had planned before today that I wanted to be aggressive in the final," said Brown.

"It's cool when you play out your plan and it comes off. I guess there's a bit of relief because this is my first win for the year and I've been wanting it for a little while.

"You're more likely to stay away if you've got three riders clear. I thought I could beat those two in a sprint, so I was quite happy about it actually. It was nice to have them in the final.

"Obviously, I want to be up there on the final climb tomorrow. I think that's what it's going to come down to.

"I'm happy now that I've got a little bit of buffer and time, so if I finish with the top climbers I can hopefully retain the jersey."

Team DSM's Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes, the previous wearer of the yellow jersey and pre-race favourite, dropped back to eighth, 66 seconds behind the leader.