Tony Martin takes the yellow jersey and a 12sec GC lead from Froome, with Van Garderen third overall. Contador is down in eighth, 48secs back. It’s difficult to pick a more deserving winner given just how close he had come in the past two days. Mark Cavendish and the rest of his team-mates are there at the line with a nice show of unity, celebrating as one.
Tony Martin: “After a flat tyre, changing bike, suddenly 5km to the finish nobody really wanted to pull. Somehow I found some power and I made it. I don’t know what happened. I was so nervous I think I pulled more than I ever did. A thousand thanks to my team, I’m super happy.”
That’s all from me, thanks for reading and all your emails. Stick around on the site for more reaction to today’s racing. Bye!
That was a wonderful surge from a long way out to win an entertaining stage four.
Top 5:
1. Tony Martin
2. John Degenkolb, at 0.01
3. Peter Sagan
4. Greg van Avermaet
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen
Tony Martin wins stage four!
The Etixx QuickStep rider grits his teeth, bike swaying from side to side. He puts down the hammer and goes for the line. Martin wins the stage and has just enough energy left to punch the air. He will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow.
1km to go
There’s no great chase to reel in Tony Martin and it looks like he is going to grab the win, and the yellow jersey!
Tony Martin has already established a huge lead over the main pack behind, which is filled with GC contenders including Contador, Froome and Nibali. The German has come so close to wearing the yellow jersey two days running, and he looks utterly determined to grab it today.
3km to go
The front group has 3min 15sec on the peloton: the winner is going to come from this pack. Tony Martin bursts away and he’s all on his own. If anyone can win this stage with such an early kick, it’s him.
5km to go and @GeraintThomas86 and @chrisfroome are right on the front of the reduced bunch. #TDF2015
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 7, 2015
#TdF2015 Cav and Coquard also there. 4.5km to go.
— Team MTN-Qhubeka (@TeamMTNQhubeka) July 7, 2015
#TDF2015 5km to go. @WarrenBarguil, @johndegenkolb and @koendekort in the first group.
— Team Giant-Alpecin (@GiantAlpecin) July 7, 2015
Geraint Thomas moves to the front to set the pace, with Froome tucked into the pack. The two main groups have merged and as we approach the final 5km we have around 30 riders all as one. What a thrilling end this could be. Tony Martin is amongst them, the only man who can realistically take the yellow jersey from Froome. Cavendish is there, too, eyeing a stage win no doubt.
8km to go
BMC’s Greg van Avermaet attacks and tries to pull away from the main pack. Geraint Thomas goes with him and his team-mate Froome is right on his tail, causing a lead group of around eight riders, including Valverde and Nibali, to move clear. They are being chased by a larger group led by the youthful legs of Sagan ahead of the experienced Contador.
That lead group now forms part of about 30 riders that are stretched out in a long line over the final set of cobbles, led by Nibali.
“Tony Martin is now riding teammate Trentin’s bike,” James Cavell emails. “Martin prefers the front brake on the right, Trentin on the left. Let us hope Tony is aware of this and remembers.”
A defined leading group has now formed: Froome, Van Garderen, Gallopin, Van Avermaet, Contador, Nibali, Quintana, Bardet, Schar, Wyss, Voeckler and Bennati.
Tony Martin has a problem but his car is too far back – he swaps tyres with a team-mate instead. A shot of Pinto shows his fury that his car is also a long way back, lifting his bike in the air and slamming it back down on the road in frustration as startled locals look on.
20km to go
Seems that cobble preview paid off for @andrewtalansky. Riding strong near the front of the ever-shrinking bunch. #TDF2015
— Cannondale-Garmin (@Ride_Argyle) July 7, 2015
Pinot with a mechanical. #TDF2015
— Etixx - Quick-Step (@Etixx_QuickStep) July 7, 2015
A blow for FDJ as Thibaut Pinot slows up with a mechanical problem, possibly a flat tyre. He’s now well shy of the peloton.
The lead group hit the penultimate section of cobbles through the fields of northern France as dust digs up and swirls around the peloton. Incredibly this testing terrains have not have much impact at all on the main group and all the main GC contenders stay in touch. Froome has only Thomas for company from Team Sky, while Cavendish and Martin are also well-placed.
Quintana and Contador are right up amongst the leaders as the main group exit the cobbles, leaving two sections of cobble stone to go. Nibali and Froome are also well placed.
A replay shows Chris Froome make contact with another rider on the far edge of the peloton and just for a moment he stops pedalling and throws his weight back the other way to stop from teetering over, like a learner desperately trying to stay on their saddle. He does so and continues but as we enter the fifth set of cobbles the Team Sky rider is a little further back than he might like.
Astana are trying to control from the front with Boom leading Nibali onwards: they appear to have a clear plan to run the show as this stage rides towards its conclusion. We are about 1km from the fifth section of cobbles. The seventh and final section of pavé is the longest and most testing, and that may well be where this stage is won and lost.
30km to go
The peloton are putting on the pressure in an effort to kill off the stragglers. Geraint Thomas sits in front of Chris Froome as Team Sky position themselves in the middle of the pack. Tony Martin is up front with his Etixx QuickStep team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski close behind. Pinot, Contador, Nibali and Quintana are all there. This is a terrific stage and any one of several teams could take control from here on in.
“The major issue with apportioning blame in the peloton is the fluidity of movement,” Tom Oxley emails. “It only takes a fractional change of direction, wind or a touch of the brakes and someone can catch a wheel. It is not always the rider in front or the rider who goes down first who has caused the crash. It can be 5 or 6 riders ahead of the contact who has caused the flow of movement to change. It’s only ever easy to blame someone when Cavendish is involved, and they love to do that.”
The riders enter section four of seven cobbles stone sections with Nibali, Froome, Contador and even Quintana keeping pace, the little Colombian not scared by the threatening terrain which must be bumping him all over the road.
Astana have burst away from the peloton as Lars Boom drags Vincenzo Nibali away from the group – but Chris Froome isn’t having any of it! He digs in to bridge the gap and brings his team-mates with him. That earlier breakaway group of four have now been swallowed up by the rest and it’s Boom leading the way. They exit the third set of cobbles safely.
40km to go
Chris Froome and his Team Sky team-mates lead the main pack into the third section of cobble stones, a 1.6km stretch.
It's the 15th time Chris Froome has worn yellow in his career. New British record. #TDF Photo by @Cyclingnewsfeed pic.twitter.com/k4OcvTLcXZ
— Simon Brotherton (@SimonBrotherton) July 7, 2015
The second section of seven cobble stones has been negotiated safely and the peloton has broken up slightly with Nibali, Froome and Contador all well positioned towards the front of a big group that have cut the gap to the front four (Quemeneur, Westra, De Gendt, Brun) to around 10sec. Sprinter and white-jersey wearer Peter Sagan is riding as a team helper for Contador today.
Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas doing a great job to keep Chris Froome well positioned as we hit the cobbles! #AllezTeamSky #TDF2015
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 7, 2015
45km to go! Gap down to 15” and @tonymartin85 is on the front on this cobbled sector! @michalkwiatek not far behind. #TDF2015
— Etixx - Quick-Step (@Etixx_QuickStep) July 7, 2015
#TdF2015 we on the cobbles... its strung out. EBH right in front. 45km to go.
— Team MTN-Qhubeka (@TeamMTNQhubeka) July 7, 2015
The breakaway group of four riders are on the pavé with only a 20sec advantage, their lead quickly being cut by the peloton over the past 10km. Dust and rain kicks up around them as the crosswind blows hard. This should break up the up-to-now neatly formed peloton.
Bradley Posselt adds his two cents to the debate: “While crashes are a part of racing, yesterday’s error by Bonnet seemed terribly amateur. In racing, you are responsible for your front wheel, and any overlap with the rider in front is risky. I don’t think Bonnet should be formally punished, but I dare say his standing in the professional peloton has been permanently diminished.”
50km to go
The light rain is definitely causing problems and Alex Dowsett, the former hour-record holder, is the latest to go down and blood seeps from his elbow as he gets back on his bike. We are about 3km from the next section of cobbles.
The peloton sweeps round a near-right angle and in the light rain Dan Martin (Cannondale) goes down, along with an Astana rider who quickly gets back on his saddle. Martin is back on his bike too and it isn’t a serious one. Tinkoff-Saxo have suffered had a blow too with Matteo Tosatto suffering a flat tyre that has left him chasing the peloton.
Rain has just started to fall in northern France, and what timing this is as the riders approach the potentially treacherous cobbles.
“Interesting the comparisons between cycling and motorsport crashes,” says James Davison. “In most top level motorsport these days, the cars are bristling with cameras and on the confines of a circuit. So there are potentially far more witnesses and evidence available to apportion blame where necessary. Peloton accidents seem to happen in the blink of an eye and without the all-seeing cameras there in the thick of the action – although this seems to be changing, there is more on-bike footage coming out and that must be a good thing.”
Very little change at the front as the breakaway group of Quemeneur, Westra, De Gendt and Brun continue to work together to stay around 2min 40sec ahead of the peloton, which contains all the main GC contenders. The danger of the cobblestones – both real and in racing terms – lurks around 10km ahead.
Here’s what awaits the stage four winner in 60km, yellow hats at the ready:
#TDF2015 Who will cross the finish line in Cambrai as first? pic.twitter.com/xjjnYqPy8U
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) July 7, 2015
Some beautiful helicopter shots show the peloton streaming through fields of dense, high crops stealthily as one. The gap to the leading four is around 2min 50sec and the anticipation is building as we move within 20km of the first of six cobbled sections that line the route to Cambrai. Worth noting, too, that the wind is up just as it was yesterday.
If you fancy something a bit different to our reams of text, you can always follow FDJ and their #emojiracing:
🏁 -68KM 🚴🚴🚴🚴 échappée (Quemeneur, Brun, Westra, De Gendt) 🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴 Peloton maillot jaune + 3'05" #emojiracing #TDF2015
— Equipe FDJ (@EquipeFDJ) July 7, 2015
A reminder of the four out in front: Quemeneur (Europcar), Westra (Astana), De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Brun (Bretagne-Seche).
James Cavell has got back in touch in our ‘should they punish cyclists for causing a crash’ debate: “Looking at it again I don’t really see Bonnet swinging out and causing the crash. Instead another rider (I think Barguil) comes around his outside and clips his front wheel, which caused him to drift to the right while falling.
“The rule on sprinting in a straight line only applies to the finishing sprint, and is usually only enforced if a rider drifts off his line towards the barriers to physically block a rival from passing. Sprinters and their lead outs are jumping from wheel to wheel a great deal in the finale, and more often than not have to steer around other riders to try and get ahead in the sprint.
“The Cavendish / Leezers incident was controversial because Cavendish felt that Leezers moved into his optimal line, and the Dutchman felt that Cavendish had plenty of room to pass him (half a road in fact) but looked to make contact out of frustration at having been boxed in earlier in the lead up to the sprint. If you can find it there’s a great documentary that goes behind the scenes of the Argos-Shimano team in that Tour, and the riders were very hurt and disappointed by the incident as they really looked up to Cavendish. My opinion is that blame needs to be applied to any rider who makes contact when it is clearly avoidable.”
Updated
The breakaway group are in a groove now, switching leader rhythmically as they share the considerable workload – and they’re proving effective as they extend their gap to the peloton more than 3min, and growing. A reminder that six more cobble sections await the riders in the final 50km: 70km remain.
The Tour has reached French soil, but it’s made a wonderful start in Belgium and Holland.
MERCI LA BELGIQUE ! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/WxCuBsz9bs
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 7, 2015
Alexis Vuillermoz, who finished third in yesterday’s stage, appears to have a problem and pulls aside. He doesn’t seem to have fallen but the bike needs a quick fix from the AG2R La Mondiale car before he can get on his way, a team-mate holding back to help him back to the peloton.
“The Cavendish-Veelers incident is actually an interesting little case study for this question,” says Anthony Hulse. “To my mind, the question of whether ‘punishment’ is appropriate is a matter of intent. We can safely assume that whilst yesterday may have been clumsy riding, it’s pretty much inconceivable that it was the result of a deliberate action. With the Veelers one though, he’s dropping back after doing his lead out and rather than just continuing in a straight line, he very clearly looks over his shoulder a couple of times and then moves right (when the road was going left) as Cavendish is about to go past.
“When you consider that his team mate is Marcel Kittel it’s hard to put those facts together and come to any conclusion other than it being a deliberate attempt to get in Cavendish’s way. For that kind of thing I’d say some kind of meaningful punishment is certainly justified, because deliberately endangering other riders can’t be acceptable. Unintentional errors like yesterday though are just an inevitable part of bike racing.”
Updated
The race is in a bit of a holding pattern. Everyone knows what's coming. @TeamSky setting tempo. 80km to go #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/JxWewVSsQ9
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 7, 2015
The lead group are working nicely together sharing the workload, with De Gendt currently at the front, and they’ve maintained the 2min 30sec lead for more than 10km now.
“This didn’t cause a crash,” Andy Spurr emails, “but Mark Renshaw was famously disqualified for headbutting another rider who he thought was impeding Cavendish during a sprint in the 2010 tour. There are clearly cases where the tour director deems it appropriate to punish unsafe/unsporting riding!”
The Tour de France is in France!
Cavendish picked up eleven points for winning that little battle, as the fifth rider over the line. There are 81km remaining in stage four and the lead group remain 2min 30sec ahead of the peloton, who are sweeping through narrow town streets as they enter France.
Updated
The big-name sprinters in the peloton suddenly emerge from all sides of the pack and stream out towards the line for the rest of the green jersey points on offer. Cavendish attacks round the outside and edges Coquard on the line ahead of Sagan and Greipel – who had a shoulder bump with Degenkolb as they fought for Cav’s slipstream.
De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) bursts clear of the three riders he has had for company for the majority of this stage to grab the €1,500 cash prize and sprint points on offer, fairly meaningless given he is not a sprinter.
The leadaway group are closing in on the intermediate sprint, and there’s around €1,500 up for grabs for the first past the post. Will they race for it? They are 2min 38sec clear of the peloton with 87km remaining.
John Sanderson has been back in touch: “Cheers Mr Cavell for that response [14.06]. Seems fair enough, live by the sword and all that...but haven’t some riders been punished/had time docked/places taken away for drifting about in the final sprint? Is there actually a rule or, as I suspect, do the UCI make it up as they go along?”
“Those looking to string William Bonnet up for ‘causing’ the crash yesterday,” emails Brian Hudner, “should probably take into account that he has already suffered a ‘hangman’s fracture’ of his C2 vertebrae as a result of his fall, and will require surgery. And his suffering won’t be helped by having his fall repeated as long as there are Tour de France ‘highlights’ reels.”
Updated
Around 93km remaining in stage four. So far today an early breakaway group of Quemeneur (Europcar), Westra (Astana), De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Brun (Bretagne-Seche) have largely kept themselves between two and four minutes clear of the peloton. The peloton lead is being shared around with Astana, Team Sky and Orica GreenEdge consistently to the fore. One of seven testing cobbled sections has been negotiated without incident, but there’s plenty more still to come and the final 50km is potentially treacherous particularly for those smaller, lighter riders. Nairo Quintana, beware.
“I’ll dare to throw my debating hat into this peloton of argument,” Jon Chase emails. “As gutting as it is to crash out of any race having prepared so long for it, it is taken as the spirit of the race. These things happen. E.g., lot’s of riders were complaining yesterday about the race being neutralised and as Tony Martin said post-stage we can’t neutralise every crash otherwise there won’t be any racing (not his exact words, he had a german accent mind).
“At the end of the day it’s up to the comissaires to choose who/how to punish too, and it’s more of a science than an art. E.g. Cavendish has been punished a few times for crossing racing lines during sprints, yet in 2013, his collision with Tom Veelers that took Veelers out of the race, saw Cav being exonerated. Rules aside, going around causing crashes is no way to make friends in the peloton, which can be enough of a punishment.
“That probably is of no help whatsoever and has just been a waste of my working time. Please don’t tell my manager.”
The peloton are not chasing the breakaway group particularly hard, but De Gendt, Westra, Quemeneur and Brun appear to be slowing a little and their lead has been slashed to less than three minutes. The riders will be approaching an intermediate sprint checkpoint shortly at Havay, near the France-Belgium border.
“Not wishing to be contrary, but it’s rare to see a rider thrown out of a stage let alone deducted places or seconds for aggressive or dangerous riding,” contraries Guy Hornsby. “There’s the well-known case of Cav on Stage Ten in 2013 where he was adjudged to have cut across and barged Tom Veelers in the final sprint, but even then that caused huge debate and many thought he was hard done by. The Vuelta’s argy bargy last year was the first time in years I could remember a rider being (rightly) kicked off the tour.
“For the more common incident, and you only have to look at last year’s stage on the cobbles, or the Classics, many are simply accidents. Yes, riders “may” be at fault and the UCI regulations make thar clear but in reality its pretty rare for commissaries to penalise them. Much like F1, for instance, each incident will be reviewed, but much like all motorsport, “cycling is dangerous” and being caught in a crash that isn’t your fault is part and parcel of being a pro. It’s seldom that anyone is penalised because it’s rarely deliberate.”
Plenty of musettes can be seen round the riders necks as they take on a spot of lunch, which appear to consist mainly of high energy bars.
100km to go
Quemeneur (Europcar), Westra (Astana), De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Brun (Bretagne-Seche) have reestablished their lead from the peloton, which is now nearly four minutes.
The peloton has slowed quite drastically, with plenty including Lars Boom taking the opportunity to change their bike in preparation for what’s to come. The leading four have stretched out their lead to around 2min 30sec.
Plenty of emails on speeding in Richmond Park causing a chuckle but the other, perhaps more interesting debate simmering today is whether or not riders should be punished if they are at fault for a the sort of horrific pile-up we witnessed yesterday.
“It did look as though Bonnet was the first to fall after an unusual outside drift,” emails James Cavell. “However there has been no blame or angry remarks about ‘fault’ by any riders, and the general consensus seems to be that it’s a consequence of including windy and challenging stages early in the race with so many riders still looking to stay in contention and an incredibly nervous battle between Sky, Saxo-Tinkoff and Astana to keep their guys up front. There are no ceasefires in this race so far, any sort of crosswind or obstacle and the GC teams are trying to catch each other out. It is intensely competitive, and that adds to the danger.”
One section of cobbles down and quite a few riders, including Contador, have changed bikes already in this race, taking the opportunity while the peloton calms down a little. The next cobbles lurk at around 46km to go – we’ve 112km remaining in stage four.
“Please can everyone stop harping on about cyclists being stopped for speeding in Richmond Park,” grumbles Jonathan Lubikowski over email. “The park is covered by Royal Parks byelaws, so ‘normal’ road laws are not necessarily the only ones that are valid. No one told David Millar when he smashed round at an average of 29.5mph…”
Or, as Craig Nixon puts it: “On the subject of bike speed limits, the Guardian itself covered this last year [link below]. Basically, no, unless you get a *Insert nasty word of your choice* of a police officer. Or you’re Vin Diesel in the new film - Fast and Furious 8: Cycle Time.”
First of seven cobbled sectors done ✅. That's it for a little while. Gap to the break is 1'11" but there's still 115km to go #TDF2015
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 7, 2015
The front four have lost about 10 seconds to the peloton over the cobbles, the gap now around 50secs and 117km of this intriguing stage remain. The whole field is separated by less than a minute.
“The roads in Richmond Park are not public highway so different rules apply and have to be enforced by the Parks police not the Met,” Tim Ward wades in on email. “For all the cycling events using Royal Parks (St James’, Green, Hyde, Bushey and Richmond have all been used for parts of the TdF, Olympics, Tour of Britain and Ride London) you have to get special permission from the Park Authorities. Not sure if anyone actually asks HM Queen mind.”
The four leaders enter what is a relatively smooth road of cobble stones, riding in convoy right down the centre of the narrow, fan-lined track and the peloton is not far behind. This should be the most straight-forward of stage four’s seven cobbled sections.
The peloton is moving at more than 45km/hr as several teams shuffle to get close to the front. The first, short section of cobbles is 1 km away from the four leaders.
“Excellent – a debate,” emails John Sanderson. “I’m not pointing the finger, but if you’d spent a fair bit of cash and the rider had spent a fair bit of time and effort preparing for this, only for it to come to an immediate broken-bone finish, unless it was a ‘racing incident’ would you just go ‘Ah well, such is life...?’”
#TDF2015 124 km to go and 2 minutes is the gap of the breakaway
— Katusha Team (@katushacycling) July 7, 2015
John Sanderson’s email has sparked a debate or two. “‘There is not a speed limit for bicycles in the UK’,” emails Alistair Nason. “Tell that to the police speed gunning cyclists in Richmond Park.”
The gap from the peloton to the front four is around 3min 45sec at present. The front group are around 5km from the first section of a narrow stretch of cobble stones. Chris Froome said before the Tour that he is looking forwards to the challenge of the cobbles which have not been his friend in the past of course, but Vincenzo Nibali might be the man to watch today, with a fine track record over this type of stage.
“Tut, tut John Sanderson…” Neil Anthony Smith emails. “Why is it we have to keep looking to point the finger?”
The riders are already through almost 100km of this 223.5km stage and a four-man breakaway is about four minutes up the road – the main GC contenders remain in the peloton. The real action – 13km of cobbles over seven sections – is still to come.
In the meantime, take a closer look at Chris Froome’s ride...
Updated
The first correspondence of the day comes from John Sanderson, who writes the following epic:
“Just before the crash carnage yesterday I wrote this in response to a question: If a tour rider was to break the speed limit on his bike, would the authorities enforce it? Can I be the 1st of many pedants...etc etc.
There is not a ‘speed limit for bicycles’, at least not in the UK and I understand its the same overseas (though I’ve recently learned in the US it applies). Posted speed limits are for ‘motor vehicles’, so in the same way they don’t apply to pedestrians, horse riders or even horse-drawn carts, they aren’t applicable to bicycles. Essentially if your “vehicle” doesn’t come supplied with a speedo as standard then they don’t apply. The wording legally backing up a ‘speed limit order’ goes along the lines of ‘It is an offence to permit a motor vehicle to proceed at a speed over the limit....’.
I assume that means they have to temporarily suspend speed limits when the Monaco GP is on then...? Interesting... well, maybe. So I’m sending it again.
And...Does anyone know is there any punishment for a rider who causes these pile ups? I know sometimes its a “racing incident” but clearly William Bonnet was at fault for this one - type of thing you might see in a Cat 4 race, just drifting across and clipping a rear wheel. When you think of the money invested in getting these riders to their physical peak at just the right time, I bet Trek and Orica among others are fuming. Orica lost 2 riders yesterday, Gerrans and Impey I think. Gerrans, like Cancellara, has had a fair bit of time at the X-ray machine this year.
Erm, that’s it. Sorry...”
If you’d like to see what is coming up for the riders in this year’s Tour, you can have a browse through our stage-by-stage guide.
Chris Froome is in yellow today after picking up a crucial six-second time bonus for finishing second behind Joaquim Rodriguez in stage three. In doing so he pipped Tony Martin to the yellow jersey by one second, who must be more than a little miffed after a second day of narrowly missing out.
A spin through the climax of stage four, where the rider’s will finish in Cambrai later today...
Découvrez les derniers 400 m / Take a look at the last 400 m #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/mAFDnRCQtZ
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 7, 2015
Updated
Yesterday was every bit as brutal as expected and in this year’s testing opening week there’s no let up. Stage four is the Tour’s longest stage, a 223.5km route from Seraing in eastern Belgium to Cambrai in norther France, and although predominantly flat there are seven cobbled sections for riders to negotiate, most lurking near the end to trip up weary legs and minds. Rain could play havoc if it falls – this is a stage in which the Tour cannot be won but for the unlucky ones it might be lost.
Updated
And here is a fascinating view of the aftermath from the GoPro of an Orica-GreenEdge mechanic, as he desperately gets to work getting his riders back on their saddles.
Here is helicopter footage of the crash caused in a fall by the FDJ rider William Bonnet who was also forced to abandon the Tour, along with Orica-GreenEdge rider Simon Gerrans, Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin and Team Katusha’s Dmitry Kozontchuk.
Welcome along to stage four of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France, and we start with the news this morning that the man in yellow yesterday, Fabian Cancellara, has been forced to withdraw from the race. The Swiss rider fractured two vertebrae in the major crash that disrupted yesterday’s stage.
“This is incredibly disappointing for me,” said the Trek rider in a statement issued on Monday. “The team was on a high with the yellow jersey and were very motivated to defend it. We have had a lot of crashes and injuries since the start of the season, and we finally had a great 24 hours but now it’s back to bad luck. One day you win, one day you lose.”
What to look out for in stage four
The Tour’s longest stage should be the climax of a four-day stress-fest with a repeat of the cobbles that ripped last year’s race apart, where Nibali did the groundwork for his final victory.
There are seven sectors covering just 13.3km, which will turn into a slippery hell if 2014’s diluvian weather is repeated. As at Huy, the dangers lie in crashes during the nervous run-in to the cobbles as much as on the stones themselves. Someone will lose the Tour here, and again history is on the side of Nibali and Contador.
For the stage win, back a member of a Low Countries squad: Giant, Lotto-Jumbo, Lotto-Soudal or Etixx, or perhaps a strong Frenchman such as Arnaud Demare.
