Tadej Pogačar has won stage four of the Tour de France and reclaimed the yellow jersey in what was the race's first full-blown set-to with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.
Pogačar attacked from a select group of favourites near the top of the Col du Galibier, immediately followed by his Danish rival. But by the summit Pogačar had a small gap, which he extended on the descent to take victory in Valloire at the foot of the mountain by 35 seconds.
"It was like a dream stage. It's incredible," said Pogačar afterwards.
"I'm super happy. This was more or less the plan and we executed it really well."
He had been training in the area so much that it felt "like a home stage", he said, adding that his descent off the Galibier was helped by that local knowledge.
"I was a little bit surprised to see wet roads in the first few corners," he said, "so it was a bit scary. But then I descended super fast, and if you know the road it helps."
Of the 45-second buffer he now enjoys at the top of the GC, he said: "I can be happy in this place and I'm super happy with the shape and how I feel on the bike, so let's continue day by day with this attitude that we have now."
As well as the legendary Galibier, the riders tackled Sestrières and the Col de Montgenèvre earlier in the day during what was the first full-on mountain stage of the race. It was also the first day back in France, with the riders starting in Pinerolo and crossing the Italian border around 45km into the 139.6km stage.
Vingegaard was caught at the bottom of the Galibier by pursuers Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who added insult to injury by passing him to take the bonus seconds, with Evenepoel and Ayuso second and third respectively.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), who wore the yellow jersey after yesterday's stage, was dropped on the Galibier, finishing more than five minutes down.
The plan, said UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti, had been to put rival teams under pressure on the Galibier to gauge where they were.
They would have been pleased with what they found – within three kilometres of the favourites group passing the early breakaway, all of Pogačar's main rivals had been dropped or isolated. Of the main players, only Evenepoel, Roglič, Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Vingegaard remained in touch.
Conversely, UAE still had three riders helping Pogačar, with Almeida in particular pulling a huge turn on the front to set Pogačar up for his kick over the top.
It was a performance that will have dented the morale of many, but with 17 stages still to go, these are still early days.
How it happened
The early part of the race belonged to the sprinters and their teams, and the quest for green jersey points.
Mads Pedersen was a particularly keen protagonist, even attacking himself, before eventually allowing his Lidl-Trek team-mates to take over and set a ferocious pace towards the day's only intermediate sprint, which took place just as the long climb to Sestrières began.
Its tenacity was rewarded, with Pedersen scooping maximum points and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) second and third. Fifth place and 11 points was enough for Uno-X Mobility rider Jonas Abrahamsen to hold on to green though.
Indeed, the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey also belongs to him, after the breakaway ride on stage two that saw him racking up points left, right and centre.
With the sprint over with, it was the turn of the breakaway riders to take their turn, with a large and rather handy-looking group going clear only a few kilometres later.
The 17-rider break included Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Davide Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) and Stevie Williams (Israel-PremierTech) among others, and managed to stay clear until halfway up the Col du Galibier, more than 80-kilometres later.
But with the GC teams and Pogačar in particular coveting the stage win, the break was never allowed much of a gap – three minutes at most.
Once it was caught, it was only left to UAE to put the race through the shredder before releasing their man.
Results
Tour de France 2024, Stage 4: Pinerolo > Valloire, 139.6km
1. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:46:38
2. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step, +35sec
3. Juan Ayuso (SPA) UAE Team Emirates
4. Primož Roglič (SLO) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, both s.t.
5. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma-Lease a Bike, +37sec
6. Carlos Rodríguez (SPA) Ineos Grenadiers, at s.t.
7. Mikel Landa (SPA) Soudal-Quick Step, +53sec
8. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates, at s.t.
9. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Lidl-Trek, +2:41
10. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious, at s.t.
General Classification after Stage 4
1. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 19:06:38
2. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step, +45sec
3. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50sec
4. Juan Ayuso (SPA) UAE Team Emirates, +1:10
5. Primož Roglič (SLO) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:14
6. Carlos Rodríguez (SPA) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:16
7. Mikel Landa (SPA) Soudal-Quick Step, +1:32
8. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates, at s.t.
9. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Lidl-Trek, +3:20
10. Egan Bernal (COL) Ineos Grenadiers, +3:21
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