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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Lawrence Ostlere

Tour de France 2016: Marcel Kittel edges home for stage four win – as it happened

Marcel Kittel, centre, just gets up on the line to win.
Marcel Kittel, centre, just gets up on the line to win. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

Read our report on a thrilling climax to stage four:

Away from the drama Chris Froome took a smooth passage through to the line, as did Peter Sagan who will wear yellow tomorrow on route from Limoges to Le Lioran – when things start getting mountainous.

That’s all from me, thanks for reading and for your many tweets and emails, sorry I couldn’t use them all. I leave you with an update on the general classification:

Worth noting impressive performance by a British rider, Fortuneo’s Daniel McLay, who was in amongst the pack battling for the line and finished seventh.

Stage four classification

That close.

Updated

Bryan Coquard after that stunning climax:

That is Kittel’s ninth Tour de France stage victory, and there won’t have been one closer. Hard lines for Bryan Coquard who placed himself perfectly in that tactical battle – and tough luck on his Direct Energie team-mate Thomas Voeckler who worked so hard on the front of the peloton to make it possible.

Kittel is in a heap on the floor, head in hands, when he is told he has won the stage on a photo finish. He grimaces and punches the air. If you thought yesterday’s photo finish was close – wow. Less than a tyre’s width between Kittel and Coquard on the line but it was the German Etixx-QuickStep rider who pinched it.

Marcel Kittel wins by millimeters.
Marcel Kittel wins by millimeters. Photograph: @letour

Updated

Marcel Kittel wins stage four!

The sprint is on. Cavendish can’t get in position, he’s squeezed out. It’s Sagan and Kittel who emerge from a dense pack and Coquard tags on their wheel. He fires past Sagan and now it is Kittel and Coquard to the line... it’s a photo finish... and it’s Marcel Kittel! Just.

Kittel takes the line.
Kittel takes the line. Photograph: Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters

Updated

2km remaining: Greipel’s Lotto team hit the front once more and lead the peloton down a treacherous sweeping section. It’s navigated safely and Griepel is well-placed, but Cavendish is up near the front too as they near the flamme rouge.

3km remaining: A tight squeeze on the approach to a roundabout causes several riders to come a standstill! Several have lost ground as the peloton strings out.

Updated

5km remaining: Team Sky, who have been almost anonymous during this stage near the back of the peloton, come to the fore alongside Tinkoff and Lotto as all three teams jostle for position.

The peloton looms ominously behind the leaders, and finally they are sucked up into the mass of riders.

The peloton skilfully navigates a right-angled corner without incident. There are several more of these tricky turns to deal with in this final section to the line.

10km remaining: Naesen, Irizar and Schillinger continue to lead the way as they ride under the 10km marker, but they are followed only 15sec later by the peloton, now fronted by Astana.

Updated

Tommy Voeckler has done his huge shift and hands over to the Lotto-Soudal riders who are now the on the nose of the peloton kicking up the pace as they close in on the final 10km.

The peloton
The peloton attempting to bridge the gap to the breakaway group ahead. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

Updated

Fans applaud the leading group as their challenge fades. Their lead is now 15sec and a hungry peloton is about to gobble them up.

Naesen, the one in the breakaway trio who might have the ability to finish the job, goes to the front bringing Irizar and Schillinger with him. They have done brilliantly to keep out in front but they now are in the sights of Thomas Voeckler and the peloton.

20km remaining: Thomas Voeckler continues to instigate from the front of the peloton and in attempt to wear out Bryan Coquard’s rivals. The gap is now 26sec to the lead pack of Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling), Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo), and Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon18). Matthew Trim emails of their former breakawayer: “Apparently Gougeard has just broken the ‘1000km ahead of the peloton’ record for races this year. He’s clearly not a people person.”

An impressive overhead shot shows the peloton swing around a sweeping left-hander, around half-a-minute from the leaders.

25km remaining: Naesen, Irizar and Schillinger fly down the descent swinging left and right as lines of fans cheer them through. Their lead has been cut down to 41sec – and it is falling.

Team Dimension Data’s Daniel Teklehaimanot
Team Dimension Data’s Daniel Teklehaimanot leads the peloton as they chase down the leading pack. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA

30km remaining: So Gougeard, who sounds like a delicious cheese, has left Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling), Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo) and Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon18) to man the breakaway as a trio. They are making a decent first of it, maintaining a 50sec lead. There is a short ascent coming up before a long low-gradient descent which will be fast and furious before the run to the finish.

Updated

Direct Energie’s Thomas Voeckler puts himself at the front of the peloton. He will be looking to put his team-mate Bryan Coquard in position to win this stage in a sprint finish.

Updated

And then there were three: Alexis Gougeard has fallen away from the break and is swallowed up by the swarming pack behind him.

“I was going to say the team of EU commissioners negotiating the Brexit but got beaten to the punch,” rues Mick Belford, “so how about them being the founders of the Philosphers Cycling Club the ‘Wheels within Wheelers’?”

“How many people had to die before Alfred Nobel discovered how to make nitroglycerine safe?” ponders Andrew Benton. “Was it four of his research assistants - Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar & Schillinger?”

Updated

40km remaining: Ettix-Quickstep’s Julien Vermote injects some pace into the peloton with a sharp burst off the front just as the sun pokes out. The gap to the leaders is down to 53sec. Tom Paternoster emails with a crucial piece of pedantry: “Unfortunately the 4 riders in the breakaway couldn’t win the Nobel prize for physics because it’s limited to a maximum of 3 people. They would have to wait for one of them to die in order for the 3 others to be awarded it.”

You could say that, yes. This breakaway never quite seemed to have the legs to see it through to the stage win although they have at least increased the tempo from yesterday – and there may be a brilliant finish still to come.

The pack squeeze through narrow fan-lined streets near Bessines-sur-Gartempe. They are zipping along at some pace now and for the first time since the breakaway began more than four hours ago, the gap to the peloton is within 1min.

That lead is falling again, now down to less than 1min 20sec. This is the most testing part of the stage as the route concludes with several peaks and troughs all the way to the line. This tickled me:

Updated

50km remaining: The leaders – Naesen, Gougeard, Irizar and Schillinger – are within the final 50km of this long stage four and they have managed to hold on to most of that 2min lead (it is now around 1min 50sec). Kittel, Greipel, Cavendish, Sagan and the other big sprinters are all well poised in the peloton with their team-mates around them. The riders are cutting along a straight road on the edge of thick forest on their way towards Limoges, for what could be another thrilling finish.

Updated

The Spanish veteran and one of our four Brexit bureaucrats Markel Irizar wins the only King of the Mountains points today with a short sprint on Côte de la Maison Neuve ahead of his fellow breakawayers. Here’s that Sagan-Kittel-Cav sprint in graph form:

Tinkoff
Tinkoff making hay near the front of the peloton. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

The lead riders are approaching the start of the only categorised climb on this 237.5km stage. The Côte de la Maison Neuve is a 1km incline at a 5.4% average gradient which will test the mettle of our breakaway Nobel Prize winners.

Name that breakaway update

Green jersey points update

1 Cavendish 132
2 Sagan 127
3 Greipel 87
4 Kittel 87
5 Coquard 53

In Tynwald Day news: “I thought Tynwald Day was a musician who was friends with Joe Strummer, emails Ed Taylor, “appearing on at least two The Clash albums and one by the Mescaleros.”

Intermediate sprint

The breakaway quartet take the initial sprinkle of points on offer. Then, some action! A flash of yellow pulls out of the side of the main peloton as Sagan darts for the line to pick up some handy green jersey points. Cavendish follows on his wheel as Sagan goes under the marker, but right on the line Marcel Kittel squeezes over just ahead Cav.

65km remaining: That gap to the leaders remains fairly settled, bouncing around between 2min and 2min 20sec. There really has been very little to report today. Despite the higher pace than yesterday’s procession there has been minimal incident on this long, flat route to Limoges. However we are nearing the business end and this stage has the potential for another compelling sprint finish. “Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar & Schillinger are four houses in the Austrian version of Hogwarts,” conjures Tom Charnock. “Irizar is famous for producing dark wizards whereas Gougerard goes in for good natured duffers.”

The peloton in action.
The peloton in action. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA
A sign salutes local man Sylvain Chavanel.
A sign salutes local man Sylvain Chavanel. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA

A tailwind is zipping the pace along as the leaders reach the top of that slight but steady climb and the route flattens out towards the only intermediate sprint of the day. “Rather than the Rolling Report,” suggests Simon Thomas, “how about the Chapeau Portmanteau?”

75km remaining: The peloton has slowed its pace a touch and our heroic leaders (Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar and Schillinger), perhaps aware of a game breaking out in their name, are holding on to a gap of around 2min:

Did you know it is Tynwald Day? It’s the national day of the Isle of Man where they will be cheering their most famous son, Mark Cavendish. I don’t know much more about Tynwald Day than that fine piece of insight, so do email in with an interesting nugget if you’ve got one.

Shaun Rowark emails (in response to Adrien Dunnion earlier): “Whereas the tour green jersey is won by sprinters who can climb a little i.e. Sagan. I wouldn’t say it’s truly sprinter dedicated.”

It’s Lotto Soudal’s Thomas De Gendt on the nose of the peloton pushing things on, closing the gap to the four leaders (Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar and Schillinger) down to 1min 30sec. That is the most slender lead they’ve held in the past three hours.

You know the stage hasn’t quite caught fire when the commentary team on Eurosport are talking about cooking. “Le Tour commentary reminds of the OBO,” emails Howard Appleby. “The long flat stages are the Test matches, the Pyrenees the ODI’s, and the Alps the T20’s. From the Tests onwards the chance of getting quoted drop dramatically. What’s the cycling equivalent of the OBO? KBH (Kilometre by hour)? Allez!” I think it is officially an RR (rolling report), but I’m all for suggestions.

The route has kicked up to a slight incline after winding through Montmorillon and on towards Limoges, and the peloton has started to break up a little with several straggling groups off the back. The yellow jersey of Peter Sagan is still well positioned in the group, alongside Chris Froome and the main GC riders. The leading quartet are around 2min clear now.

Some sensational name that breakaway submissions in the last ten minutes just as they begin to fade. I wish I could use them all, but here’s a few that made me chuckle:

Our breakawayers might be running out of fight. Their lead is down to 2min 40sec and falling. Robin Hazlehurst has just blown my mind: “Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar and Schillinger were the leaders of a late 19th century avant-garde art movement that painted apparently realistic pictures where random elements were broken or separated, hence the name of the movement ‘Les cassés-detachés’.

These are becoming wonderfully niche.

With around 95km to go, Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar and Schillinger are still out in front but their lead has been chopped down alarmingly quickly to around 4min. “Good that the Tour has a “sprinter dedicated” jersey though,” emails Adrien Dunnion. “The Giro and especially the Vuelta’s points classifications are more often won by climbers who can sprint a little, like Valverde (who I believe has won 3 or 4 Vuelta green jerseys).”

The finish to stage four, the longest stage of this year’s Tour, is a very long and very straight run up a slight incline, a unique end to a day’s riding. Tactically it will be interesting with the riders able to see the finish up ahead in the distance. Elsewhere in ‘name that breakaway’ news:

100km remaining: Our leaders’ gap is being rapidly slashed – now down to 4min 35sec – which is all the more reason to name that breakaway. John Sanderson has thought it through: “Naesen....to Gougerard. Irizar. And Schillinger...!!!!!!!!!!!!”. Said like that, in an Alan Partridge voice, you can almost see the net bulge in beautiful 70’s technicolor as East European minnows Dukla Prague beat the mighty Liverpool in the last minute of an early European round.”

Alan Partridge’s World Cup Countdown to ‘94.

Regarding masters of the yellow and green jersey, Adrien Dunnion emails: “Well Sean Kelly never came lower than 15th on GC in the 4 green jerseys he won (15th, 7th, 4th and 9th, last one in 1989) and actually won the Vuelta while winning that green jersey. Also, Laurent Jalabert was 4th in the 1995 Tour, and also went on to win that year’s Vuelta. But apart from that yeah mostly sprinters or sprinter/puncheurs

While Paul Cutting admonishes himself for what is an abominable oversight: “I feel like I should hang my head in shame. I missed off Miguel Indurain who came 3rd in the points jersey competition in 1995 when he also won his 5th and final Yellow Jersey.”

Updated

As the breakaway transitions from town to countryside their lead is being eaten into. A Lotto rider has jumped on to the front of the peloton to put some impetus into the main pack and they are quickly closing in – from more than 6min the gap is now down to 5min 20sec.

Gougeard leads the break away.
Gougeard leads the break away. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA

Updated

Nick Evans emails: “Just to add to the information below, which other people got to you sooner, despite my brevity, Hinault also won the short-lived ‘Combination’ jersey as well as the yellow jersey in 1981 and 1982. And in 1981 he won the Combativity Award too.”

I didn’t think it would be possible for ‘name that breakaway’ to start up with this particular smattering, but I underestimated our readership’s creativity:

We’ve reached the halfway point of stage four and the lead has increased to more than six minutes. Paul Cutting adds to the green jersey-yellow jersey ponderings: “With regard the question around joint yellow & green jersey winner, a quick cross reference on an online encyclopaedia seems to suggest Bernard Hinault won the Yellow & Green jersey in 1979. He also came 2nd in the points classification in 1982 which was the year he won his 4th Yellow Jersey. In 1987 Stephen Roche won the Yellow Jersey and came 2nd in the points Jersey by a mere 17 points. After that it looks like it was a dedicated sprinters jersey.”

The pack sweep through a line of trees as they chase the breakaway.
The pack sweep through a line of trees as they chase the breakaway. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

Re Andrew Benton’s query, Michael Main writes: “Good question this one – Merckx did it multiple times, 3 I think. Hinault did it (and won the GC) in ‘79 too. Sean Kelly was top ten in green a couple of times in the 80’s. More recently Jalabert was top five, but I think that’s as good as it’s going to get – guys are too specialist now, and the points are more biased towards the flatter stages.”

100km completed: Our breakawayers have eked out a smidgen more time from the peloton and the gap is now around 5min 20sec. The main pack seem happy enough with that, for now, as we near the halfway point of stage four.

The leading group
The leading group of Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar and Schillinger on a grey day in the west of France. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

Andrew Benton emails in a teaser: “Who, in Le Tour history, have been the best overall-placed Green Jersey winners? Some sprinters struggle in the mountains, and some withdraw (can they still win the Green if they withdraw but have amassed enough points earlier?), but which Green jersey winners have had the best overall placings too? Did any Yellow Jersey winner win the Green as well?”

Eddy Merckx once won all three classifications – general, sprint, mountains – in one Tour and I’m sure he is not the only one to have won the GC and the sprint competition (but you cannot win a classification if you don’t finish the race). I throw open to the floor.

The breakaway

The leaders have injected some pace into the start of stage four, and have completed more than 40km in the second hour. They are made up of Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling), a 25-year-old Belgian in his first grand tour; Alexis Gougerard (AG2R-La Mondiale), 23, French rider who took a stage win during last year’s Vuelta, the experienced Spanish rider Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo), and 32-year-old Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon18) from Germany who withdrew from last year’s Tour with injury.

Sylvain Chavanel, the veteran Direct Energie rider, moves off the front of the peloton to enjoy some applause from friends and family as the riders enter Chatellerault, his home birthplace.

Back in the pack, Mark Cavendish is resplendent in the sprinter’s green jersey today. He is also sporting a green helmet, green handlebars and a green bottle top. Rumours he wanted to paint his face green are unfounded.

Mark Cavendish during stage four.
Mark Cavendish during stage four. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

That gap to the lead group of riders remains at around 5mins with nearly 70km completed. Here it is in graph form:

If you did miss stage three, fret no more:

Tour de France 2016 day three: Mark Cavendish wins stage

Updated

60km: The gap between the lead group (Naesen, Gougerard, Irizar and Schillinger) and a Tinkoff-led peloton has settled at around 5mins. The average speed so far today is 44.5km/hr, nearly 10km/hr up on the same point during stage three. That’s more like it.

Here are a few images from the action this morning. What do you think these two are nattering about?

Peter Sagan, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, and Mark Cavendish, wearing the best sprinter’s green jersey, chat it out.
Peter Sagan, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, and Mark Cavendish, wearing the best sprinter’s green jersey, chat it out. Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
Chris Froome signs an autograph before the start of stage four.
Chris Froome signs an autograph before the start of stage four. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters
The pack get under way as they leave Saumur.
The pack get under way as they leave Saumur. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
Several riders attempt an early getaway.
Several riders attempt an early getaway. Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images

Stage four so far

The stage has been under way for just over an hour and an early breakaway has upped the tempo from yesterday’s rolling pace. The lead group is a foursome: Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling), Alexis Gougerard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo), and Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon18). They have been off the front for around half an hour and have built up a handy 5min lead.

Before we catch up with stage four, a look back at yesterday. The first 220km on route from Granville to Angers were described as “boring”, “extremely boring” and “definitely extremely boring” by various onlookers, but such a plodding stage delivered a thrilling bunch-sprint finish. Mark Cavendish beat André Greipel on the line by this much...

Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish (top) pips André Greipel on the line to win stage three. Photograph: Reuters

... and afterwards talked of his pride at having equalled Bernard Hinault’s tally of 28 stage wins in style: “To even be mentioned in the same sentence as Hinault is something that I couldn’t even have dreamed of. But I’m never going to compare myself to him. I normally know when I win or I lose. When I crossed the line, I kind of knew I got it today. But I was quite lucky to just get him.”

Greipel, meanwhile, thought Cavendish was quite lucky to have won the stage. “I just made one mistake and it was a kind of reflex to go into the biggest gear. If I had kept it in the gear I had then I think I would have made it,” he griped.

You can catch up on all the action from yesterday with our stage three report.

Updated

Stage four – Saumur to Limoges (237.5km)

After yesterday’s historic victory for Mark Cavendish, which pulled him to joint-second on the all-time list of Tour de France stage victories, comes an even longer and flatter day in the saddle as the peloton heads south-east to Limoges in Haute-Vienne. Here’s what you need to know about today’s stage:

Another sprint day, another day for a no-hoper escape to be caught late on, and here it’s worth pointing out that the French teams finally have strong contenders for the sprints: Bryan Coquard of Direct Énergie and Arnaud Démare of FDJ. They will have a decent outside chance alongside Greipel, Kittel and Cavendish; the finale is up a gradual drag, favouring Greipel or Démare.

Stage four – Saumur to Limoges
Stage four – Saumur to Limoges. Photograph: Guardian Interactive

You can find out more about the race ahead with our interactive stage-by-stage guide.

Updated

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