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Tour de France stage 4 - Live coverage

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Stage 4 of the Tour de France is a flat run from Redon to Fougères that should present the sprinters with another opportunity, though it remains to be seen how the peloton will approach the day after the crash-marred stage to Pontivy on Monday.

Today's stage gets underway at 13.25 local time but there will be a lot of discussions before then in the aftermath of yesterday's crash-marred stage. We will have reaction from Philippe Gilbert and UCI president David Lappartient shortly, but these were some of the views from the peloton immediately afterwards

Yesterday's fraught stage saw the general classification picture redrawn quite dramatically, with Richard Carapaz (Ineos) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) the only contenders to finish in the front group. For a full rundown of how the GC men fared, click here.

General classification after stage 3

In a video on YouTube, Philippe Gilbert has outlined that the rider representatives and the CPA had asked for stage 3 to be neutralised with 5km to go. While ASO apparently agreed with the move, the UCI commissaires declined the request because the current UCI rule do not allow it. "There was a big mistake accepting this route," Gilbert said, also calling out other teams for not working together for a common good and wider safety in the peloton,' said Gilbert. "What surprises me is that a number of teams reconned the route and didn’t say anything to ASO. If teams had pointed out the dangers then ASO could have changed the final kilometres. Communication is the key to everything." Stephen Farrand has more here.

UCI president David Lappartient, meanwhile, has blamed the crashes on the riders themselves and the tension in the peloton, rather than on the route design. "The roads were fine, a constant width and there were no traffic islands. It was technical, but there was a  nice finishing straight, it’s just that everybody was going fast because Pontivy is at the bottom of a  steep valley," Lappartient told Ouest France. “Above all, the peloton was very nervous." Read more here.

There have been conflicting reports this morning about whether the peloton will stage some form of protest before, or perhaps even during, stage 4. There have been whispers of a go-slow for the opening 50km, though this idea has not been endorsed publicly by anybody as yet. Staf Scheirlinckx of the BCPA, the Belgian riders' union, has reportedly told Sporza that the peloton will pause for one minute before the start and proceed cautiously in the opening kilometres, but he denied that any go-slow would last for 50km. 

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) had to visit the X-ray truck after his crash in the run-in of yesterday's stage but the Slovenian did not report any fractures. "Luckily we saw that everything is still in one piece and nothing is broken but I have scars all around my body," he said. "It was not the best day for us but we go on. We can still continue." Stephen Farrand has the full story from Pontivy here.

Roglic's crashed after clipping handlebars with Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious). The Italian champion issued a statement last night to downplay suggestions that he had been at fault in the incident. "Roglič came from behind me to move up, and our handlebars got caught together, which almost pulled us both to the ground. It was only luck that I remained up on the bike. My reaction after the crash was more out of fear than anything else. I'm really sorry for @rogla, and wish it didn't happen, but I don't believe I'm to blame." Read more here.

The CPA has issued a statement calling for the UCI to adapt the 3km rule to 'avoid circumstances such as those which occurred in yesterday's stage.' The statement in full is as follows:

Stephen Farrand is at the start in Redon for Cyclingnews. He reports that a source from a leading team has indicated that the peloton will stage a one-minute stoppage at kilometre zero and will then ride at a slow pace for the opening 10 kilometres of the stage in protest at the safety measures on this Tour de France. 

Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) has now confirmed as much in the mixed zone at the start. The peloton will pause for a minute at kilometre zero and then stage a go-slow for the opening 10km.

The roll-out today is at 13:25 local time, with the peloton due to reach kilometre zero at 13:40. There will be a one-minute stoppage there, and the race will then proceed slowly for the first 10km.

The terrain is flat, with no classified climbs on the agenda, and it is difficult to envisage anything other than a bunch finish in Fougères this afternoon.

Philippe Gilbert has outlined the nature of the planned protest: "We’re going to stop for one minute at kilometre zero, then ride 5-10km easy. Like this, we still have respect for this town here today, which has nothing to do with the accident of yesterday. We know people have worked hard locally and we have to respect this. The most important thing is to open the dialogue with the different families of cycling."

Stephen Farrand spoke to Peter Sagan at the start in Redon, and the three-time world champion was not optimistic that today's protest would lead to significant changes going forward. "What is going to change, I ask myself. As riders we have to change our minds, otherwise, it’s only going to get even worse," Sagan said. "Nothing is going to change anyway. For the last ten years, it’s been worse and worse. Who is going to take responsibility? And I ask myself where is the CPA in all of this? They are the organisation for this and what are they doing? Nothing.

Sagan was a faller in the finishing straight yesterday when he was brought down by Caleb Ewan. "Could be better, could be worse," he said when asked about his injuries. "My knee is done and also the side of my leg is pretty done but I try to recover as soon as possible."

Yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) leads the peloton away from the start in Redon. The bunch is currently negotiating the neutralised zone, but they will stop for a minute on reaching kilometre zero. 

There are plenty of clouds overhead, but the roads are mercifully dry as the peloton makes its way through the neutralised zone. 

Primoz Roglic is covered in bandages after his crash yesterday but he could at least poke gentle fun at his travails. "The situation is far from good," Roglič wrote on social media. "But I had to smile, reading all the good wishes and positive thoughts you had sent me. The mummy will be on the start today and we will see how it goes." Read more here.

The only non-starter to report today, incidentally, is Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who broke his collarbone in that crash in the finishing straight yesterday.

-150km

The peloton eventually rolls to a stop with Greipel in the first line, but it is striking that the jersey wearers are not at the head of the field. After the minute's stop, Julian Alaphilippe leads the bunch away again.

-149km

Greipel and Thomas De Gendt sit at the head of the peloton, which is ambling gently through the opening kilometres of the stage. Towards the rear of the field, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) and Primoz Roglic are in what appears to be quite amiable conversation after their clash in the finale yesterday.

-145km

-143km

-141km

-138km

Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis) joins Van Moer off the front, and they have opened a small gap over the peloton.

-136km

-132km

-127km

Geraint Thomas (Ineos) dislocated his shoulder in his crash yesterday, but the 2018 Tour winner remains in the race today. "The shoulder is a bit sore but hopefully once I get going it will loosen up a bit," Thomas said before the start. "The shoulder for sure is just going to be painful for a few days but I’ll get on with it. It came out yesterday and luckily the race doctor put it back in when I was on the floor. Then it was just instant relief. It felt so much better then. I got back on the bike and managed to finish the stage. I’ll just take it day by day and then we’ll see. We’ll deal with the rest after."

-123km

-119km

-115km

Peter Sagan chats in the peloton with Vincenzo Nibali, who was yesterday confirmed as part of the Italian squad for the Tokyo Olympics. There were doubts about Nibali's place after a trying Giro d'Italia, but he has started this Tour well and he has been picked alongside Damiano Caruso, Gianni Moscon, Alberto Bettiol and Giulio Ciccone. "My role could anything, so talking tactics now is pointless," Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "At the Olympics, the medal is what count. The good of the blue jersey comes ahead of everything else. It's not a case of someone going better than something else, it's about altruism."

-108km

-107km

-102km

Van Moer is making his Tour de France debut and he lined up for the race with victory on the opening day of the Critérium du Dauphiné.  That triumph was all the sweeter given that Van Moer had thrown away what looked like a certain victory in Tongeren at the Baloise Belgium Tour the previous week.

-98km

Neither Van Moer nor Perichon is a threat on GC. The Belgian began the day 11:43 off Van der Poel's yellow jersey, while Perichon is over 24 minutes down.

-94km

-88km

-79km

-76km

Julian Alaphilippe lies second overall, 8 seconds behind Mathieu van der Poel. The Frenchman wears the green jersey but he might well swap it back for a yellow one after Wednesday's time trial. "It's doable, but I'll need to do a big TT. I'm motivated and I hope the legs are there too," Alaphilippe told Eurosport, whose Deceuninck-QuickStep team is devoted to Cavendish this afternoon. "I hope today will be a less nervous day than yesterday. The objective will be to avoid crashes. It's a good finish for Mark Cavendish and we'll work for him." 

-65km

The race is through the feed zone at Bâton Roulant, where the two leaders have 1:54 in hand on the peloton, though the pace will only begin to ratchet upwards from here. The intermediate sprint today comes at Vitré with 36km remaining. 

-59km

Tim Declercq, as ever on a day like this, has put in a mammoth shift at the head of the peloton on behalf of Deceuninck-QuickStep. Alpecin-Fenix are gathered in numbers behind him and they are chasing a third successive stage win with a third different rider this afternoon. Ariostea managed that feat 30 years ago through Bruno Cenghialta, Moreno Argentin and Marco Lietti. 

-55km

A mechanical issue for Mark Cavendish, but he is under no particular duress as he chases back up to the peloton, and he links up with a group containing Alaphilippe and Van der Poel, who may have stopped for a natural break around the same time. 

-51km

-48km

-44km

-43km

-40km

-36km

Mark Cavendish wins the sprint for third ahead of Nacer Bouhanni, after being expertly piloted by Michael Mørkøv. Michael Matthews is next, ahead of Peter Sagan. 

-33km

The result at the intermediate sprint was as follows:

-28km

-24km

Bora-Hansgrohe are also present in numbers on behalf of Peter Sagan and Wilco Kelderman, while Ineos are marshalling Richard Carapaz and Geraint Thomas into position. There is no sign of Jumbo-Visma towards the front of the bunch at this juncture. 

-22km

-20km

-17km

-16km

-15km

-14km

-12km

-11km

-10km

-9km

-8km

-7.5km

-7km

-6km

Perichon has been caught by the bunch, but Van Moer is still 54 seconds clear of a bunch where Alpecin-Fenix are now piling on the pressure...

-5km

-4.5km

-4km

-3km

-2.5km

-2km

Van der Poel is prominent on behalf of Alpecin-Fenix, who have numbers and look poised to take things up in the final kilometre. 16 seconds the gap to Van Moer.

-1km

Van Moer climbs from the saddle ahead of the final kick towards the line... He glances over his shoulder... This is going to be very, very close...

Alpecin-Fenix lead out the sprint behin d Van Moer...

Van Moer is caught with 200m to go, as Jasper Philipsen and Mark Cavendish kick for the line...

Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep) wins stage 4 of the Tour de France.

Cavendish sits in the road in tears as he realises the magnitude of winning his 31st Tour de France stage and his first in five years. 

Result

Cavendish manoeuvred himself onto Philipsen's wheel and then came past him inside the final 50m to claim a fairly resounding victory. Bouhanni came past the flagging Philipsen for second place at the very last. 

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) retains the yellow jersey, 8 seconds clear of Julian Alaphilippe.

FOUGERES FRANCE JUNE 29 Mark Cavendish of The United Kingdom and Team Deceuninck QuickStep stage winner celebrates at arrival during the 108th Tour de France 2021 Stage 4 a 1504km stage from Redon to Fougres LeTour TDF2021 on June 29 2021 in Fougeres France Photo by Guillaume Horcajuelo PoolGetty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Mark Cavendish on his victory: :I don’t know what to say, man. Like, just being here is special enough, you know. I didn’t think I’d ever get to comeback to this race.

General classification

Julian Alaphilippe on Cavendish's victory: "He’s just amazing. I’m so happy for him, so happy for the team. We really believed in him for today’s stage. We knew the final. This is such an emotional victory for him but also for everyone.He was so motivated. Like a neo-pro. He showed his grinta and his team spirit. He’s still one of the best sprinters in the world and he showed it again today.

Michael Mørkøv: "We got a bit far back on the last 2km, so I had to bring up Mark and luckily, we had a class rider like Julian there to bring us up in the last part.
Mark is a legend and I'm really proud to ride with him and bring him back on this level. Before today he had 30 wins in this race and to help him be back winning on a high level is a really proud moment as well.

FOUGERES FRANCE JUNE 29 Mark Cavendish of The United Kingdom and Team Deceuninck QuickStep stage winner celebrates at arrival during the 108th Tour de France 2021 Stage 4 a 1504km stage from Redon to Fougres LeTour TDF2021 on June 29 2021 in Fougeres France Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

FOUGERES FRANCE JUNE 29 Mark Cavendish of The United Kingdom stage winner celebrates at arrival Mattia Cattaneo of Italy and Team Deceuninck QuickStep Green Points Jersey during the 108th Tour de France 2021 Stage 4 a 1504km stage from Redon to Fougres LeTour TDF2021 on June 29 2021 in Fougeres France Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

The full results from today's stage are available here.

Read Mark Cavendish's first reaction to his victory here. Stephen Farrand and Alasdair Fotheringham will have further coverage from his post-stage press conference shortly.

Tour de France 2021 108th Edition 4th stage Redon Fougeres 1504 km 29062021 Mark Cavendish GBR Deceuninck QuickStep photo Luca BettiniBettiniPhoto2021

(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Brent Van Moer's remarkable solo effort will be overshadowed by Cavendish's victory, but the Belgian came within 175m of pulling off a remarkable heist. He was, of course, elected the combatif du jour, but he deserved more for his afternoon's work.

FOUGERES FRANCE JUNE 29 Mark Cavendish of The United Kingdom and Team Deceuninck QuickStep stage winner Green Points Jersey Patrick Lefevere of Belgium CEO Team manager of Deceuninck QuickStep celebrate at arrival during the 108th Tour de France 2021 Stage 4 a 1504km stage from Redon to Fougres LeTour TDF2021 on June 29 2021 in Fougeres France Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Deceuninck-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere has described Cavendish's win as the most emotional his team has enjoyed in a three-week race. "We have more than 100 wins in a Grand Tour, but I never saw the whole staff crying," Lefevere said. "I think the whole staff was crying because everybody went on his emotions." Read more here.

A full report, photos and results from today's stage are available here.

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