THE TOUR of Britain brought 120 of the world’s top cyclists to the roads as stage four passed through on the way in to Bristol.

Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins started stage four of the tour in 5th place overall, 24 seconds behind the leader, and will be hoping to claw himself back in to contention as he heads in to the second half of this year’s eight-stage tour.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist will be hoping to defend his title after he winning last year's competition.

The Italian racer Edoardo Zardini wore the yellow jersey for the fourth stage of this year's race after crossing the line in first place at the end of stage three on Tuesday (September 9).

Yesterday's (September 10) stage of the tour began in Worcester, in the morning, before winding its way down in to Gloucestershire where it headed in to Wotton-under-Edge.

Large crowds gathered on the side of the road across the route and they enthusiastically cheered on the racers as they cycled past.

One of the many onlookers was Doug Casthorpe, 64, from Wotton-under-Edge, he said: "I don't watch sports much anymore, but I've been following the tour because a large part of it is happening right next door. "I think its good that Gloucestershire gets an event like this."

Rolling road closures were put in place as the cyclists made their way along the B4058 before turning on to the B4059 at Iron Acton.

The racers then passed through Winterbourne before beginning the final stretch as the cyclists headed in to Bristol where Pole Michal Kwiatkowski came home in first position.

Sir Bradley Wiggins has now fallen further behind in to sixth position, 27 seconds behind the overall leader.