Natnael Tesfazion claimed his first victory in two years on stage 4 of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque in Cassel on Saturday. The Movistar rider proved to be the fastest rider in the winning break, launching his sprint first on the steep Rue d’Aire to cross the line three seconds ahead of Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM). Kim Heiduk (Netcompany Ineos) rounded out the podium
In a reshuffle at the front, first Dewulf, Heiduk and then Tesfazion bridged across to the lead break in the final 15 kilometres of the race, while behind, the reduced peloton could not get organized to sustain a chase to bring the escapees back. The escapees had 18 seconds as they flew under the red kite for one kilometre to go.
"I was really excited to win this stage because today is Independence Day in Eritrea, and today is my birthday," Tesfazion said after his victory.
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"I already head good legs from the start of the season. And [with] one lap to go, I also had good legs and I asked both of my teammates because they are the leaders and they say ‘we are a little bit kaput’, and I attacked in the cobbles to catch [the break]."
Race leader Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), isolated in the peloton, was forced to cover attacks by himself in the final kilometres when his GC was threatened by Liam Slock (Lotto Intermarché), who also made the break and was sitting 16 seconds down at the start of the day. Slock could not match the final accelerations in the finale, and took fifth, 16 seconds behind the stage winner and only two seconds ahead of Pithie.
Pithie held on to the leader’s jersey with seven seconds on Tesfazion, Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility) dropped to third overall, 11 seconds in arrears.
It looks good for Pithie as racing concludes on Sunday with the 181.3 km flat stage from Saint-Omer to Dunkerque which is expected to end in a sprint.
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Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) fought hard to retain the leader's jersey (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
Stage 4, the queen stage of the 70th edition of the French race, was a demanding 167.2km stage built around five figure-8 circuits near Cassel, incorporating two punishing climbs, the Rue de Tambour and the steeper Rue d'Aire, averaging 8.5%, with the latter also serving as the finishing climb.
Five riders escaped quickly after leaving the start in Bergues, including mountains leader Victor Papon for the third time in four stages, joined by his Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur teammate Baptiste Gilet. Also in the break were Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies), Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Morne Van Niekerk (St Michel-Préférence Home-Auber93). Working well together, the quintet built up a gap of over two minutes with 77 kilometres to go.
Gilet was the first escapee to fall off the pace as the Uno-X Mobility-led peloton upped the pace to take back one minute to the break in the next 30 kilometres.
Papon once again crossed the finish line first to get the KOM points, as the break saw two laps to go with a lead of 49 seconds. Riders bridged across the break the next time up rue du Tambour, with the reduced peloton chasing behind them.
Kim Heiduk (Netcompany Ineos) and Decathlon CMA CGM duo Andrew Oscar Chamberlain and Stan Dewulf joined Doubey, Papon, Mouris and Van Niekerk, with a 15-second gap to the peloton with 24 kilometres to go.
Behind, race leader Laurence Pithie slotted behind two Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe teammates at the front of the peloton, down to around 25 riders, as Van Niekerk, Papon, Mouris, and then Chamberlain fell off the pace in the front, leaving Dewulf and Heiduk to continue together with a 12-second gap.
The duo was reeled in, as the bell rang for the final lap as attacks continued at the front, with an isolated Pithie forced to cover the moves by himself. Liam Slock (Lotto Intermarché), Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL) and Sam Maisonobe (Cofidis) pulled briefly away with Heiduk and Dewulf bridging across. Natnael Tesfazion (Movistar) countered an attack to also go across the 10-second gap to the break with 12 kilometres to go.
A 17-rider chase group with Pithie and Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility) could not get organised, in contrast with the six riders up the road, working well together to build a 17-second lead with 10 kilometres to go.
Inside of three kilometres to go, Pithie went to the front of the chase group to try and decrease the gap to the break, with Slock being the major threat, sitting 16 seconds down on GC at the start of the day.
Tesfazion launched the sprint first and held it to the line to take the win on his birthday. Dewulf was second and Heiduk took third. Slock took fifth, 16 seconds later with Pithie crossing the line two seconds further to hold onto the race lead.
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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