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Tour de Suisse 2010: Stage 4

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Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage from stage four of the Tour de Suisse. Today we have a relatively flat 192.2km to race between Schwarzenburg and Wettingen. The riders will head north before hitting a third category climb after 140km of racing. They'll do that climb twice on a finishing circuit. There's also a little rise just before the finish but the sprinters will fancy their chances today.
 

Here's how we stand in the overall, with Tony Martin leading after three stages, Fabian Cancellara in second place, just one second down on the German:

We have 157 starters today after Tour of California winner, Michael Rogers went to train at altitude before the Tour de France. Rogers would have been one of HTC's strongest helpers in the team's bid to support Martin in the overall. Here's a little story on the subject.

192km remaining from 192km

Already a few little digs on the front with Björn Schröder and then riders from AG2R taking it in turns to attack. Lampre on the front.

Here's a nice long-list for us to look at. A few pocket rocket sprinters in there along with a few strongmen who have a nice turns of speed. Who are you tipping and why? Let me know at twitter.com/dnlbenson

182km remaining from 192km

174km remaining from 192km

A bit of info on the young Frenchman leading the race today. For a start he's French. He's also 24 and his brother Romain also rides for the same team. Both men were picked up when Agritubel dropped out of the sport. Alas the squad weren't invited to the Tour this year, despite having two of the best homegrown prospects on their books. In fact they didn't get an invite to the Vuelta either, did they?

Feillu's on a mission. His lead is now over six minutes. No Tour invite, no Vuelta invite, the man is clearly out to prove a point.

A similar situation to the Three Days of De Panne. During that race the Tour announced their wild card selection and Vacansoleil weren't included. Over the next couple of days they threw riders up the road in a number of attacks.

163km remaining from 192km

Brailsford is looking forward to the challenge of Sky riding three Grand Tours in one year but doesn't confirm if he'll be sending Wiggins to the Vuelta. Frank Schleck is feeling confident after winning yesterday's stage here in Suisse. Haussler is glad to be back on the bike.

157km remaining from 192km

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139km remaining from 192km

As we predicted the gap moves out again. It's now 8.36.

The bunch have reached the town of Thörigen with HTC on the front controlling affairs. Feillu is still out there on his own.

125km remaining from 192km

So what do you think of Brice's chances of staying out there all day and taking the stage?

Dependable Roulston takes another long turn at the front of the bunch. He came over from Cervelo at the end of 2009 and has settled in well with his new team. He's made the short list for the Tour de France squad.

104km remaining from 192km

101km remaining from 192km

94km remaining from 192km

The Frenchman is starting to lose time rapidly now as the gap dips below six minutes for the first time.

87km remaining from 192km

80km remaining from 192km

Mr Tony Martin gets an energy bar down as he sits on Monfort's back wheel.

Heinrich Haussler at the back of the bunch having a chat with a teammate. Fabian Cancellara is back there too. Both riders have won stages so far in this year's race. Today could be another day for Haussler.

71km remaining from 192km

A few of Feillu's teammates are sitting just behind the Columbia train, trying to break things up as much as possible.

The pace has been sapped right out of the peloton now. The gap creeps out to 4:35. HTC continue to lead things but they've stopped the chase. Mind games to entice more teams to the front, perhaps?

Assuming that today does indeed come down to a sprint here are a list of riders to watch out for.

Armstrong sitting around halfway down the bunch with Cav alongside him and then four Shack riders just behind them.

Hulsmans goes back to the team car and picks up a number of bottles for his teammates. He can't give them away right now though as rider after rider shake their heads.

58km remaining from 192km

The lone leader comes through the finish for the first time and the crowds are very impressive. He has two laps of this circuit to go.

The peloton come through the finish for the first time.

53km remaining from 192km

At least Feillu has some nice views to keep himself distracted. Lovely green fields and forests on both sides of the road.

50km remaining from 192km

Feillu is on the climb now, the gap down to 3.30

And the peloton start the climb. They're rolling along but the pace isn't high enough for anyone to start struggling.

Not too steep as Shack shadow HTC on the front of the pack.

48km remaining from 192km

As Feillu, who is still on the climb, accelerates around a corner. He's getting some warm support from the Swiss fans that line the road. He's just about to crest the top of the climb.

Feillu dives down the other side but the gap isn't holding and it's down to just 2.15.

The lone Frenchman shakes out his legs but he'll be close to empty.

The bunch are all lined out as they start the descent. The road thins out quite a lot at this point.

39km remaining from 192km

37km remaining from 192km

Euskaltel - Euskadi move to the front and set the pace. Are they working for Koldo Fernandez or hoping to pick up some of the points on offer for the climb? Both possibly but they'll be hoping to take over the points jersey today.

Feillu has just 52 seconds now, the Spanish men in orange still setting the pace as they hit the climb for the final time.

Feillu comes through the finish on his own. He takes a huge round of applause from the crowd - well aware that he's given it everything today. He'll be caught very soon.

Crash.

27km remaining from 192km

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Tony Martin has moved right to the front now and sits in second wheel. Looks like HTC will leave him to his own devices as they look after Cavendish on the climb.

A Vacansoleil rider attacks from the bunch. This team are really going for it today and they'll have won a lot of fans with their aggressive riding.

Gilbert attacks and he takes Ryder Hesjedal with him. That's the 1-2 from Amstel and they'll catch the lone leader.

19km remaining from 192km

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin - Transitions) is still out there and leads on the descent. He doesn't have a big gap, maybe 100 meters or so.

The Canadian has 8 seconds.

Cancellara moves to the front and helps with the chase.

Back onto the flat roads with just 17km to go. Hesjedal still leads but a couple of riders are trying to bridge over to him.

HTC are still taking a back seat. The lead is now 10 seconds for the Garmin-Transitions rider.

15km remaining from 192km

Both riders are brought back but Hesjedal is still out on his own. Lövkvist is off the back and chasing with his teammates. He was third overall and doesnt need a problem like this. He should get back on.

Quickstep move the front now. Still no sign from HTC though.

12km remaining from 192km

Lövkvist just about to make contact with the back of the bunch now.

All back together again now. Boonen's men now on the front controlling things.

9km remaining from 192km

Boonen is around 20 back, Milram making a move to the front too. Lancaster has a puncture so his lead out skills will be missed by Cervelo.

Pick a winner: 

Rabobank move to the front now for their man Freire. So many big name sprinters here.

Renshaw has Cavendish on his wheel. How familiar is that sight?

5km remaining from 192km

HTC hit the front now. They wont have it all their own way though and they've done a lot of work already today. They could be there for the taking!

Monfort drilling on the front now.

3km to go. Petacchi is right up there.

All the big sprinters are here. There's an attack!

Gilbert goes for it!

not it's Van Avermaet!

That was a nasty right hand turn and Astana attack. HTC cant keep it together. what do they have in the tank for Cav?

HTC are trying to bring it all back . CAv has two with him.

Cav goes down!

Massive crash Petacchi takes the win.

Cavendish and Haussler seemed to come together right at the front both men down. them boonen goes right into the back of Cavendish's neck.

No team were able to control that and that played into the hands of a messy sprint. Ciolek went down too. Cavendish was hit by around four or five riders and behind that there were several more crashes.

Here are the top ten:

Cavendish did seem to drift there. Oh, so many riders came down very hard. One AG2R flipped right over the bars doing a 360.

We have to leave you now but here are the results from today's stage. Please come back to the homepage for a full report and news regarding that big crash at the finish.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Results
1Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
2Matti Breschel (Den) Saxo Bank
3Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil
4Jose Jaquin Rojas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
5Robbie McEwen (Aus) Katusha
6Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Team Sky
7Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
8Bauke Mollema (Hol) Rabobank
9Andreas Kloden (Ger) RadioShack
10Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Overall classification after stage 4
Row 0 - Cell 0 Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 0 - Cell 2
1Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank0:00:01
2Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team0:00:08
3Rigoberto Uran (Col) Caisse d'Epargne0:00:09
4Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step0:00:10
5Frank Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank0:00:12
6Jacob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank0:00:13
7Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 7 - Cell 2
8Nicolas Jona Castroviejo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi0:00:14
9Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank0:00:16

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