O'Brien (19) lights it up with all-out aggression at Tour of Britain | Video

Liam O'Brien, the Irish teenager riding for Lidl Trek Future Racing, makes his initial move off the front at Tour of Britain (Photo: Simon Wilkinson-SWpix.com)

Liam O'Brien (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) has gone on the attack at the Tour of Britain, getting clear in the days main breakaway before pressing on solo in a bid for stage glory.

And though the Irish rider, still just 19-years-old, was caught by the remains of the peloton, he put in a brilliant shift off the front after having held his own admirably on the first three stages of the race.

O'Brien's breakaway ride yesterday - on the 138.5km stage from Derby to Newark-on-Trent - represents a seamless continuation of a very strong first year season out of the juniors for World Tour Lidl Trek team's feeder squad.

He went away yesterday, with about 125km to go, alongside Scott McGill (Project Echelon Racing) and Rowan Baker (Saint Piran). They were chasing Ben Swift, the Ineos Grenadiers rider who had broken free solo a little earlier.

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They quickly became four off the front though, surprisingly, it was World Tour man Swift who appeared to relinquish his place in the group, dropping back to the peloton quite quickly, even though the breakaway men were gaining ground. That was despite the fact the leaders ploughed on into a headwind for much of the stage.

After about 75km off the front - and with some 50km remaining - the breakaway still only enjoyed a gap of about 1:15 as Israel Premier Tech and Soudal-QuickStep chased at the front. About 20km later, the leaders turned into a tailwind section for the final 30km, though the peloton was breathing down their necks about 15 seconds behind them.

However, far from throwing in the towel, the breakaway riders took turns at attacking each other and it was O'Brien who proved strongest; forging clear solo as McGill and Baker were caught by the chasing pack.

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Irishman O'Brien then pressed on solo in the tailwind, taking the intermediate sprint before being caught with just over 10km to go. His recaptured paved the way for a bunch sprint, won by Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) from Ethan Vernon (Israel Premier Tech) and Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility).

Former Irish elite road race champion Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) was 8th, with O'Brien finishing just off the back of the peloton; in 81st at 48 seconds. Another Irishman, Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing) was 99th at 4:45.

With two stages remaining, stage 2 and 3 winner Stevie Williams (Israel Premier Tech) still leads overall. He has a 16-second advantage over fellow Brit Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), with Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) 3rd at 40 seconds.

Then comes - in 4th at 41 seconds - a rider who is British cycling's brightest talent by far at present - 20-year-old Joseph Blackmore (Israel Premier Tech); the winner of U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour de l'Avenir this year.

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