Pogacars magnificently beats Van der Poel and Vingegaard in punchy finish, but misses out on yellow jersey

Unlike previous days, the fourth stage started dry. After a few neutralized kilometers behind the race director’s car, the peloton set off for 174 kilometers from Amiens Métropole to Rouen. The stage’s decisive section was expected in the finale, featuring five climbs of third and fourth category. While no rider had any desire to join the breakaway during stage 3 on Monday, it was a different story one day later.

Immeditaly Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) attacked. Soon after, Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) bridged across to them. The peloton let the trio go, but Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) had other ideas. The Dane jumped from the bunch and closed a nearly two-minute gap to join the leaders, forming a quartet that animated the early part of the stage.

The journey to Rouen was relatively drama-free. The breakaway wasn’t given much space. As they hit the first climb, Côte Jacques Anquetil (3.6 km at 3.4%), their lead was down to a minute and a half. Tension began to build in the peloton. First, there was a crash involving Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies), and Yevgeniy Fedorov (Astana). Then, as they started the climb, Cees Bol (Astana) also went down.

By this point, Jordi Meeus (Red Bull) had to let go of the peloton, still suffering from his heavy crash on Monday. The lead of the four riders up front was shrinking but remained over a minute between the first and second climbs. Meanwhile, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) ran into trouble. The Frenchman needed a new rear wheel, but in a quick move, the puncheur decided to swap bikes instead. Right before the second climb, the Côte de Belbeuf (1.3 km at 9.2%), was the only intermediate sprint of today.

Abrahamsen attacked just before the sprint, taking all the points, with Asgreen and Martinez following him. In the peloton, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won the sprint ahead of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). Immediately after the sprint, they hit the Côte de Belbeuf. Asgreen couldn’t hold the pace at the front, leaving Martinez to push on solo. The 21-year-old rider, who finished dead last on stage one, grabbed two points on the second climb.

Behind him, Tim Wellens (UAE Emirates-XRG) managed to take the final point, slightly strengthening his leading position in the mountain classification. Another crash then followed in the descent. At a road point where the road narrowed (this starts sounding familiar), Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was the first to hit the ground, and Valentin Paret-Peintre and Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step) also followed his example. Remco Evenepoel lost two of his main domestiques at the front in one go.

Martinez was reeled in by the peloton just before the Côte de Bonsecours – Stèle Jean Robic (0.9 km at 7%). At the top of the third climb, it looked like Wellens would easily grab the single point on offer, but Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) had other plans, snatching the point away for the polka dot jersey. On the descent, UAE took over at the front, ramping up the speed. The peloton stretched out through the many corners before Visma | Lease a Bike took control.

The Dutch team thundered towards the final climb, the Rampe Saint-Hilaire: 800 meters at over 9 percent. Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull) were the two major sacrifices of the brutal pace, and on the climb UAE launched their move with Jhonatan Narváez and João Almeida driving hard. It was all to set up Pogacar, and Vingegaard went with him immediately. For a moment it looked like the Dane might crack, but with one last effort, the two crested the climb together.

Vingegaard slotted onto Pogacar’s wheel, with Matteo Jorgenson in the group behind. That group, was pulled back by Evenepoel with 4 kilometers to go, also included Van der Poel. Pogacar, Almeida, Vingegaard, Jorgenson, Evenepoel, Van der Poel, and the brave Picnic rider Oscar Onley were left dreaming of victory. Red Bull saw both Lipowitz and team leader Primoz Roglic trailing behind. Only Mattias Skjelmose, Romain Grégoire, and white jersey wearer Kévin Vauquelin were close behind.

There was a bit of poker, a quick acceleration from Evenepoel, a brief lull, then Almeida set the pace before Jorgenson launched his attack! The American went clear on the final 800-meter uphill drag, but Almeida closed the gap. It turned into an elite sprint between the big names. Van der Poel kicked first, but his legs quickly gave out. Pogacar saw his moment, surged past, and took the win. Vingegaard showed his strong form once again by finishing third on the stage.