Cavendish wins stage 4 in massive sprint, van der Poel stays in yellow

Published on : 06/29/2021 – 17:09

In 2015, he won on this same arrival at Fougères. It was Mark Cavendish’s last victory in the Tour de France. Until this new Breton stage, six years later, where the British veteran once again found success on the Grande Boucle. The rider of the Deceunick-Quickstep won on Tuesday 29 June during a massive sprint on the 4th stage.

Brent Van Moer, escaped for 138 kilometers, was caught only a few tens of meters from the line.

For his part, Mathieu van der Poel, who arrived at the same time as the rest of the peloton, keeps his yellow jersey.

Pied à terre in protest

The riders of the Tour de France expressed their dissatisfaction with the multiplication of falls on Tuesday, by dismounting for one minute, 500 m after the start of the 4th stage between Redon and Fougères.

In a regrouped peloton, and in slow motion, the 177 riders still in the race, with in the first row the main leaders – Mathieu van der Poel in yellow, Julian Alaphilippe in green -, first, and as usual, swallowed in slow motion the first nine fictitious kilometers of the stage, a traditional parade intended to greet the public at the start.

Arrived at the real start, the peloton, visibly not unanimous on the approach to follow, continued on their way, before finally stopping a few hundred meters further, on the initiative of sprinter Andre Greipel. Foot on the ground but without getting off the bike, the riders stood still for one minute, before resuming the road.

Since the start of the Tour on Saturday, the race has been marked by violent and spectacular falls, with multiple causes: a spectator caused a fall while holding up a sign; the rain-soaked pavement surprised runners; the sometimes tortuous profile of the final and the excessive speed of the peloton led on Monday to a game of massacre, where the sprinters as big favorites for the final victory were bruised in their flesh.