Van Dijke brothers emerge as super-domestiques in mountain stage: “Fantastic, fantastic work”

From the very start, stage 4 was pure chaos. The wind caused immediate splits, and in the end around 40 riders were alert enough to make the front group. Almost the entire Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe line-up was there. The plan was clear: the team would sacrifice itself for leader Daniel Felipe Martínez, who was expected to finish the job.

One by one, their rivals dropped away — quite literally. Juan Ayuso crashed and had to abandon, and that incident split the leading group in two. The result was five Red Bull riders and Jonas Vingegaard against the rest. After a while, only four riders remained at the front: Vingegaard and Martínez were dragged up the road by the Van Dijke brothers. They were not exactly the names you would have expected to see shining in a stage with 2,200 metres of climbing.

When Mick handed over to his brother on the final climb, Tim was still able to stay with the big names until the final kilometre. Even after Vingegaard had flown clear, the Dutchman dropped back to help his team leader once more. Tim eventually finished third, with Mick in fourth. Thanks to all that work, the Colombian leader now sits in a very secure second place overall, with a sizeable advantage over the rest of the competition.

Martínez could do little but praise his team afterwards. “From kilometre zero today it was already a very, very hard day, with the wind and the echelons,” he said to Cycling Pro. “We tried to stay attentive all day. I think the team did a fantastic job. Really fantastic, fantastic work. In the end, we came through the day without too many big problems.”

After all the work from the Van Dijke brothers, Martínez could barely ride away from his own helpers. The day had clearly taken its toll on the climber. “I was struggling to turn the pedals, but we did a good job. It was really very hard, but I think it will be okay. The team is very strong, and I’m very satisfied with the work that was done today.”