Tour de France LIVE: Mark Cavendish wins Stage 4 - result and latest reaction
Stage four is another opportunity for the sprinters but will there be more caution after a chaotic start to the tour
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Your support makes all the difference.This year’s Tour de France has been crazy from the outset, with some of the most hectic stages any of us have ever seen.
To follow up wins for Julian Alaphilippe and Mathieu van der Poel, Tim Merlier stormed to victory on stage three with a wreckage in behind. He left Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan on the concrete and in some pain, joining the likes of Geraint Thomas, Primoz Roglic and Arnaud Demare among the most high-profile names to be caught up in serious crashes on an unbelievable afternoon from Lorient to Pontivy.
Ewan was unable to finish the stage and abandoned following his horror crash inside the final 100 metres, which also brought down Sagan. Thomas was the first to go down and was forced to put his dislocated shoulder back in before getting back into the peloton. He ended up negotiating the stage well and finished with Pogacar’s group, less than 30 seconds down on stage winner Tim Merlier.
But the same could not be said for last year’s runner-up Roglic who came across the line nearly one minute behind Pogacar and Thomas. He was also clearly suffering with some bad injuries as he finished with a lot less of his jersey and shorts. On the face of it, stage four appears to be a routine one. But you could have said exactly the same about Monday’s route and that turned out to be one of the most dramatic day’s racing in recent memory. It is marked down as another one for the sprinters and is probably a slightly easier finale than Monday when any little rise in the road was causing havoc among those at the front of the main bunch. The peloton will be hoping for a more relaxed stage. But as we’ve seen already, truly anything can happen.
Follow live updates from the Tour with more drama likely in store from this gripping race:
Tour de France stage four - 2 km to go
This looks tough for Van Moer - two kilometres to go and his lead has been cut to 20 seconds. Now here come the sprinters jostling for position. No sign of Cavendish yet.
Tour de France stage four - 4 km to go
Van Moer’s lead is cut to 45 seconds as Deceuninck–Quick-Step and Lotto-Soudal up the tempo. We’ve got an exciting finish to come, Van Moer has a great advantage but can he be caught?
Tour de France stage four - 6 km to go
Van Moer has a one kilometre lead with six kilometres to go - but here comes the response from the peloton. Perichon is caught as the pace increases.
Tour de France stage four - 8 km to go
The peloton has yet to react and Van Moer is maintaining his lead thanks to a sensational effort. Deceuninck–Quick-Step and the teams of the contending sprinters have yet to kick into gear... and Van Moer looks comfortable.
Tour de France stage four - 10 km to go
Van Moer is setting an impressive pace here and has increased his lead over the peloton to 60 seconds. How will the peloton respond?
Tour de France stage four - 15 km to go
The peloton safely round the sharp corner at Dompierre-du-Chemin, with Ineos now increasing the pace at the front of the pack. The gap to the breakaway has been cut to 30 seconds - but Brent Van Moer now bursts clear of Perichon with 14km to go!
Tour de France stage four - 25 km to go
Julian Alaphilippe remains in the green jersey with 82 points ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (62) and Michael Matthews (60). Cavendish now has 39 points following that intermediate sprint.
Not long to go now. The peloton has closed the gap on our two breakaway riders to just over a minute, as the teams jostle for position at the head of the pack. Tao Geoghegan Hart does a shift at the front of Team Ineos’ train.
Tour de France stage four - 30 km to go
Here’s a look at Cavendish’s effort. Peter Sagan crossed the line in eighth in what was essentially a dress rehearsal for the end of today’s stage.
Tour de France stage four - 35 km to go
Cavendish takes it! An early statement ahead of today’s bunch sprint, perhaps? He looked impressive there and takes 15 points for crossing the line in third. Cavendish was supported by Deceuninck–Quick-Step team-mate Michael Mørkøv, while Arkéa-Samsic’s Nacer Bouhanni and BikeExchange’s Michael Matthews round out the top six.
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