They had got away early on with Alexis Gougerard of AG2R-La Mondiale and Bora-Argon 18’s Andreas Schillinger, and with the quartet working well together, today’s stage was ridden at a far quicker pace than yesterday’s Stage 3.
Advertisement
“I actively tried to take action to make changes to make improvements for myself to be at the level to win stages on the Tour, and to be successful throughout the season”.
“The difference between guys who win and those who lose is that the guys who win understand it”, said the Team Dimension Data sprinter.
At the Tour, he got off to a disappointing start, getting beaten by Cavendish in the opening stage and missing out on a chance to wear the yellow jersey.
Beaten rival Coquard was evidently downcast at his narrow defeat, but optimistic he will have other opportunities to win a stage this year.
For Kittel it was a ninth win on the Tour and first this year and the German was elated after seeing his bike narrowly ahead of Coquard’s in the photo finish.
The Dimension Data rider is now six victories behind five-time race victor Eddy Merckx and tied Bernard Hinault to move second on list of all-time Tour stage winners. However, Coquard accelerated around the outside and after he came into contact with the burly German, they both crossed the finishing line together.
Now he is already proving he deserves recognition as a top sprinter with his string of top-ten finishes – comparable to French rider Bryan Coquard’s debut in 2014, when he made a nuisance of himself on all the sprint finishes. It was a big year for Porte who won a lead in race to each of the Grand Tours in Italy, France and Spain before again helping Froome to the Tour de France victory.
Valverde said he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to win a stage if the chance is there on Wednesday, but insisted that his main role is still to help Movistar leader Nairo Quintana – now two places behind Froome but in the same time – win the overall title.
“We came with the goal to win on the first stage but we missed out on the yellow jersey”.
Gougeard was dropped from the leading group with 35 kilometers left, moments before the pursuit really started in the hilly finale to Limoges. But with seven kilometres remaining, the were gobbled up by a swathe of riders and another dash for the was on the cards.
Marcel Kittel won stage four of the Tour de France as the race ended in a photo finish for a second day running.
Defending champion Chris Froome and two-time runner-up Nairo Quintana finished in the main pack, while Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali struggled.
Advertisement
Stage 4 looks set for another sprint stage but stage 5 sees the race entertain its second uphill finish.
