Tour de France: Tony Martin wins cobbled stage 4 in Cambrai

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After an opening three days replete with frustration, Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) expunged his woes on stage 4 of the Tour de France with a daring late attack that saw him move into the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.

The German finished second in the opening day time trial before missing out on yellow the next day due to a botched Etixx sprint, and ended stage 3 second on GC by a solitary second behind Chris Froome (Team Sky).

It even looked like he would have to endure further frustration as he suffered a mechanical and had to change bikes in the latter phases of a cobbled stage that failed to serve up drama of the proportions of last year.

But with 3.5 kilometres remaining, and on the bike of teammate Matteo Trentin, the German made a bold attack, the kind only he can make stick, and punched the air in sheer delight as he crossed the line. He now leads the overall by 12 seconds over Froome and 25 seconds over Tejay van Garderen (BMC).

"Having a flat tire and changing the bike, with the wrong position, I was just thinking to finish the stage and look forward to the next stages," Martin said. "Suddenly, five kilometres to the finish, we were all together and everyone was looking at each other, nobody really wanted to pull, so I just decided to give it a chance and to go for it, and somehow I found some power and I made it.

"I don’t know what happened in the back but I was so nervous, I was just pulling. I don’t know how many watts I pulled but it was more than I ever did. Now I am so happy, and a thousand thanks to my team for supporting me the whole week."

Behind him, John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) beat Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Greg van Avermaet (BMC) to the line in what many would have predictied would be the sprint for the win.

Whereas last year the pavé served up one of the most brutally chaotic days of racing in recent Tour history, today’s stage, though furiously contested, wasn’t blown to pieces in the same way. Though there was some moisture on the early sectors, the rain-soaked, mud-caked figures of last year were replaced by dust-encrusted but dry faces.

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was aggressive throughout, earning himself the combatively award, but was unable to inflict the damage he managed last year, perhaps due to the more clement conditions. Froome was up there and even attacked himself, while Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) hung on to make sure there was no movement between the so-called ‘fab four’. There was little movement, either, in the top 10 on GC, except for Martin and Sagan each moving up a place.

As predicted, though, there was a big loser and it was Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), whose already dented GC ambitions were perhaps terminally damaged by two mechanicals in quick succession as the race reached its crux.

He waved his arms in desperate remonstration as he had to receive assistance on two occasions, the first for a puncture and the second when the battery in his dérailleur went flat. The Frenchman, whose podium placing last year had given rise to realistic hopes this time around, eventually rolled in 3:23 minutes back, leaving him a very sorry 6:30 down on GC.

Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) were also in the Pinot group, while Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) lost over five minutes having crashed on a slippery corner ahead of sector 6.

The pavé

In the longest stage of this year’s Tour de France, at 223.5 kilometres, there were 13.3km of pavé spread across seven sectors, the final six coming in the space of 35km towards the end of the race.

As expected the first cobbled sector was a relatively straightforward affair but, having crossed the border from Belgium to France, the race burst into life over the final 46 kilometres. Just ahead of Sector 6, a 1,200-metre stretch from Artres to Famars, drops of rain begin to fall and the wind began to pick up in what seemed like a portentous shift in tone.

The breakaway quartet of Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Perrig Quémeneur (Europcar) and Frédéric Brun (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) led onto the pavé but their gap was tumbling. The main contenders made it safely back onto the tarmac but the bunch was reduced with plenty of riders left behind, some as a result of earlier minor crashes in the wet.

Astana then put the hammer down on Sector 5, a 1,600-metre stretch from Quérénaing to Verchain-Maugré. Froome was quick to react and managed to get on terms with Nibali as the peloton went single file.

Things got increasingly hectic and the bunch thinned out to less than 50 riders by Sector 4, a 1,200-metre ride from Verchain-Maugré to Saulzoir, where Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was briefly dropped.

The chase group, now including Pierre Rolland, already had a deficit nearing a minute by the time Nibali hit the front on Sector 3 of St Python and things started to split up front. Froome wasn’t on the Italian’s wheel this time but stayed up there, along with Quintana and Contador.

Sector 2, Quiévy, the longest at 3,700 metres, was next and although the bunch was becoming more select, there weren’t any decisive splits. Thibaut Pinot suffered his first mechanical here and was shortly followed by Martin and Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo).

Once again an Astana rider, this time Jakob Fuglsang, hit the front on the final cobbled sector, 2,300-metres long from Avesnes-lesAubert to Carnières. It was in anticipation of another dig from Nibali, who shook things up more violently this time. Zdeněk Štybar (Etixx-QuickStep) was next to attack as Froome stayed up there with Thomas but Quintana hung precariously at the back.

Thomas then hit the front with Froome on his wheel and they opened up a gap with a small group. Nibali was up there, along with John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), but Contador and Quintana were left behind. It looked like the split could stick but Froome then took everyone by surprise with a brief attack. He slowed and the groups came back together with 7.5km to go.

From there it turned to a battle for stage honours between the fastmen that remained, but Martin decided to spoil the script and in doing so re-wrote his own that had been spoiled on successive days.

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