Tadej Pogacar won Tuesday’s fourth stage of the Tour de France. The Slovenian world champion beat Mathieu van der Poel in the sprint. The Dutchman does keep the yellow leader’s jersey.
The stage to Rouen promised spectacle and did not disappoint. In the hilly final, an elite group remained. The 26-year-old Pogacar had the strongest legs and beat Van der Poel in the sprint. Jonas Vingegaard came in third.
Due to his victory and associated bonus seconds, Pogacar is equal in time with Van der Poel. The thirty-year-old Dutchman retains the yellow jersey because he finished on average higher in the daily results in the first four stages than the Slovenian.
The most exciting moment of the stage took place on a steep climb 5 kilometers from the finish. Pogacar attacked and only Vingegaard could follow. The Dane even had to let his rival ride away for a moment, but rejoined at the top.
In the descent, Van der Poel came back with the help of Remco Evenepoel. João Almeida, Romain Grégoire, Oscar Onley, Matteo Jorgenson, Mattias Skjelmose, and Kévin Vauquelin also finished in the front group. Primoz Roglic and Enric Mas lost more than half a minute.
Striking escapee, Pogacar’s hundredth victory
Immediately after the start of the fourth stage, Lenny Martinez had chosen the open water. That was striking because the 21-year-old Frenchman had difficulty following the peloton in the first stages. He was joined by Jonas Abrahamsen, Thomas Gachignard, and Kasper Asgreen.
The quartet was caught at the start of the hilly final. The teams of Pogacar and Vingegaard flexed their muscles and thinned out the peloton considerably. The two top favorites themselves showed on the last climb that they are in good shape and rode away from the rest.
Pogacar and Vingegaard did not work together, allowing eight others to join. Van der Poel then seemed to be on his way to his second stage win in the sprint but stalled just before the finish line. Pogacar passed him convincingly and recorded the hundredth professional victory of his career.
It remains to be seen whether Van der Poel will still be wearing the yellow jersey after Wednesday. Then a 33-kilometer time trial is on the program. The Tour de France lasts until Sunday, July 27.