Key events
Kevin Vauquelin: Currently in the white jersey, in fifth place on General Classification, Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) will be riding around ther roads of his native Normandy today.
“There’s definitely a very high level, it’s going to be a great battle for the rest of the Tour,” he said after yesterday’s stage. “This is the biggest race in the world, everyone is at their best so I’m not surprised. I didn’t think I’d keep the white jersey. I’m really happy to have a distinctive jersey for tomorrow’s time trial, at home. I think it’s just pure joy. When I climbed onto the podium with the white jersey, I received a lot of encouragement. It’s just a dream.”
Edoardo Affini: The European ITT champion is out on the course and is currently second fastest after the first checkpoint, having split Ivan Romeo and Luke Plapp.
Two non-starters today: Emilien Jeanniere (Total Energies) has left the race with a fractured collarbone he suffered in a crash on stage three, while Jasper De Buyst (Lotto) woke up with a fever and has also abandoned on medical advice. Jeanniere also broke a tooth in his crash and had to ask a local dentist in Dunkirk to open his surgery out of hours so he could get that sorted out.
“I was quickly taken care of thanks to our team doctor, who lives in Dunkirk,” said the rider yesterday. “He arranged for a dentist, Dr Richard, to open his practice for me at 8pm and I’d like to publicly thank him. He fixed my tooth.”
Ivan Romeo leads. The Movistar rider, who is the World U23 ITT champion, crosses the finish line in 37min 44.94sec. Luke Plapp (Jayco Ulula) finishes at a more sedate pace, taking the last few corners far more cautiously than his Spanish rival, stops the clock at 37min 59.96sec. Romeo’s time should stand for a while.
The first rider is finished: Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana) is last on General Classificiation due in no small part to several crashes. The Kazakh rider finishes the course in a time of 42min 24.21sec. He was first down the ramp but not the first man to cross the finish line.
Luke Plapp The Australian Jayco Ulula rider reaches the second checkpoint 10 seconds quicker than Ivan Romeo.
An email: “Here roadside north-west of Caen in the countryside and its a perfect day for a white wedding and also an individual time trial,” writes Steve Horne. It’s hot but not too hot, a merest whisper of breeze and not a cloud in the sky so no chance of rain soaked roads for the later starters.”
Ivan Romeo: The 21-year-old Movistar rider stops the clock at the second checkpoint (16.4km) at 18min 50sec and remains the quickest rider out on the course.
Today’s course: Largely flat and not particularly technical, today’s course is fairly straightforward but has a very exposed stretch out in the countryside that could cause problems for riders if the wind whips up.
Today’s time checks: Ivan Romeo (Movistar) is the quickest rider past the first checkpoint by some distance thus far, travelling the first 8.2 kilometres in 9min 51sec. The next time check is at 16.4km and the third one is at 24.8km. Romeo has already passed the two riders who started in front of him.
An intriguing sub-plot: Still eligible for the best young rider (under-25) category, Remco Evenepoel is the odds-on favourite to win today’s stage but should the Belgian endure a rare bad day at the ITT office, there’s a decent chance Scotland’s very own Oscar Onley could take the white jersey.
Riding in only his second Tour de France, the 22-year-old from Perth is a highly commendable seventh overall on General Classification but is only 29 seconds behind Kevin Vauquelin, who is currently in possession of the garment and will have plenty of support as he rides today’s ITT on his home roads of Normandy. It’s a tall order but a big performance from Oscar (and a poor one from Remco) could see the Picnic PostNL rider wrestle the white jersey from the Frenchman’s shoulders.
An email: “Can you remind me please what Oscar Onley’s TTs are like?” asks Nick. “I know he’s a climber and so far an amazing GC top 10. Do you reckon he can hold that to Paris? Everything crossed.”
There’s a long way to go before Paris so it’s far too early to say if Oscar can stay in the top 10 but I read somewhere that his team’s plan is for him to hunt stage wins. To be honest, I don’t know much about his time-trialling prowess but he was part of the team that won the TTT during his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta, in 2023.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana) has rolled down the ramp and started putting the early stages of the course behind him. He’s followed 90 seconds later by Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies).
Remco Evenepoel: The last time the Belgian lost an Individual Time Trial was on the final stage of last year’s Tour, when he was beaten by the race winner Tadej Pogacar. He has since won the Olympic ITT, World Championship ITT and Belgian National ITT, among other races.
Ones to watch in today’s ITT
Currently in last place on General Classification, Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana) will be the first rider down the ramp at 12.10pm (BST) but here are a list of the main contenders for today’s stage and the times they are due to set off. Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease A Bike) could be the first rider to set a time that could prove hard to beat and he rolls out at 12.49pm. Of course there’s also every chance I have managed to omit the name of today’s winner from my list of contenders but we’ll find out in due course …
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12.49pm: Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease A Bike)
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2.58pm: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike)
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3.36pm: Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)
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3.44pm: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step)
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3.54pm: Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease A Bike)
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3.56pm: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike)
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3.58pm: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
General Classification after stage four
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1. Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 16hrs 46mins 00secs
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2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Same time
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3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +8secs
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4. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +19secs
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5. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +26secs
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6. Enric Mas (Spa-Movistar) +48secs
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7. Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +55secs
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8. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Same time
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9. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +58secs
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10. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +7secs
Pogacar secures century of wins in thrilling finish
Stage four report: Tadej Pogacar secured his 100th career win on stage four of the Tour de France, after the defending champion narrowly outsprinted the race leader Mathieu van der Poel just before the line. Jeremy Whittle reports from Rouen …
Stage five: Caen to Caen (33km Individual Time Trial)
From William Fotheringham’s stage-by-stage guide: The first decisive day in the battle for the overall, a relatively long time trial on the rolling bocage north-east of Caen, largely on wide main roads that will suit the most powerful riders in the field. The favourites need to at least limit any losses; the winner should be a pure rouleur.
In the preview he submitted before the race started, m’learned colleague Lord Fotheringham originally tipped Filippo Ganna for the stage win today having failed to foresee that the big Italian Ineos Grenadiers rider would be forced to abandon the race with a concussion after crashing during the first stage. The Swiss Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale rider Stefan Bissegger is another man who would have had his eye on victory today but he was also forced to abandon the race on the opening day.