Basque: Tadej Pogacarrek Galibierrek staged the stage from Valloiren, and Frantziako Tourrek the jersey for the last time

The Slovenian cyclist from UAE Team Emirates Tadej Pogacar ha cattlethis Tuesday, the fourth stage of the 2024 Tour de Franceand in this way, has regained the yellow jersey of the general classification leaderwhich he had already achieved on the second day of the race, on Sunday, and had lost on Monday, on the third day of the 111th Tour de France. Pogacar crossed the finish line alone, after attacking on the Galibier; Jonas Vingegaard finished 37 seconds behind Pogacar, two seconds behind Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, Mikel Landa was seventh, and Pello Bilbao lost just over four minutes.

At the first opportunity he has had, with the arrival of the high mountains, Pogacar has made it clear, in case there was any doubt, that he wants his second Grand Tour of the season, after the great victory he achieved in May at the Giro d’Italia. The Slovenian has established significant differences in the general classification; Evenepoel, second, is 45 seconds behind, and Vingegaard 50. The winner of the 2022 and 2023 Tours has shown a very high level, but Pogacar’s moment of form seems even more refined.

As planned, The climb to Galibier marked the events of the stage. It was spectacular. When the climb began, Oier Lazkano, who was part of the group of seventeen cyclists leading the race, attacked and broke the group; the Vitorian rider repeated this attack on several more occasions, and was not caught by the group of riders fighting for the general classification until there were seven kilometres left to reach the top of the mountain.

The pace of the strongest riders was certainly very lively. With Tadej Pogacar’s UAE in the lead, with an excellent Joao Almeida, the Slovenian put his team to work, and many of his rivals were left behind: the leader Richard Carapaz, Simon Yates, Pello Bilbao, Matteo Jorgenson and Felix Gall were unable to keep up with the small group of favourites, in which Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and, together with the Belgian, Mikel Landa, put up a strong fight.

With less than a kilometre to go in the Galibier, Tadej Pogacar attacked and went solo at the front, although Vingegaard was initially on his level. The UAE leader had a five-second lead over the Dane when he passed under the banner of the Mountain Grand Prix.

On the nineteen kilometres of descent leading up to the finish line in Valloire, Pogacar increased his lead, which, with bonuses earned on the Galibier and at the finish, was finally 45 seconds over Evenepoel and 50 over Vingegaard. The Slovenian rider has brilliantly claimed his twelfth stage win in the Tour de France, the first of this edition.

The outstanding stage of Mikel Landa’s race, always with the men in the lead, and the excellent work of Oier Lazkano, the most combative rider of this fourth day of the Tour, are worth mentioning. Pello Bilbao had a worse day than expected, and lost more time than could have been expected after seeing the strength he had shown up to that point.

On Wednesday, The fifth stage of the 111th Tour de France is underway, starting in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and finishing, after 177.4 kilometres, in Saint-VulbasIt is a flat day, in which victory could be decided by a sprint.

STAGE CLASSIFICATION

1 – POGACAR Tadej (UAE) 3:46:38

2 – EVENEPOEL Remco (Soudal) +0:35

3 – AYUSO Juan (UAE) mt

4 – ROGLIC Primoz (BORA) mt

5 – VINGEGAARD ​​Jonas (Visma) +0:37

6 – RODRIGUEZ Carlos (INEOS) mt

7 – LANDA Mikel (Soudal) +0:53

8 – ALMEIDA João (UAE) mt

9 – CICCONE Giulio (Lidl) +2:41

10 – BUITRAGO Santiago (Bahrain) mt

23 – BILBAO Pello (Bahrain) +4:01

GENERAL RANKING

1 – POGACAR Tadej (UAE) 19:06:38

2 – EVENEPOEL Remco (Soudal) +0:45

3 – VINGEGAARD ​​Jonas (Visma) +0:50

4 – AYUSO Juan (UAE) +1:10

5 – ROGLIC Primoz (BORA) +1:14

6 – RODRIGUEZ Carlos (INEOS) +1:16

7 – LANDA Mikel (Soudal) +1:32

8 – ALMEIDA João (UAE) mt

9 – CICCONE Giulio (Lidl) +3:20

10 – BERNAL Egan (INEOS) +3:21

16 – BILBAO Pello (Bahrain) +4:40

Source: Eitb

Kingston

Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.