Intro:

Dan Martin sprinted to victory on stage four at the UCI's Tour of Beijing on Monday (13th October) - but was unable to snatch the race lead from Philippe Gilbert.

Script:

The penultimate stage of the final Tour of Beijing presented a mountain top finish for the riders.

The 157-kilometre 'Queen Stage' featured six categorised climbs and a summit finish.

Ryder Hesjedal was the first to launch an attack on the 12.6-kilometre final climb up Mentougou Miaofeng Mountain.

The Canadian couldn't hold on to his lead but his work paved the way for his Garmin-Sharp team-mate, Dan Martin, to progress.

Martin trailed race leader Phillippe Gilbert by eleven seconds at the start of the stage and he was determined to put himself in to a position to win the General Classification on Tuesday.

But Gilbert stayed with the Irishman.

Martin won the stage and a ten second bonus but Gilbert crossed the line in third to retain a three second lead heading in to the final day.

SOUNDBITE: Dan Martin (English) stage winner:

Q: That was good today (Monday), you won the stage but not the overall (classification lead).

"Yeah, obviously just missed the overall (lead) with Phillippe (Gilbert) hanging in there. That's the way it is, you know, I am just happy to win a stage. I have been twice second in stages in this race - and second overall last year - so it's nice to be able to win a stage."

The final, flat circuit-based stage from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest Stadium will offer a slim chance for Martin to win the GC.

Martin will have to gain bonus seconds in the two intermediate sprints to overhaul Gilbert, which is unlikely due to Gilbert's sprinting ability and the strength of his BMC team.