Tour de France stage 4 Live: A second chance for runners

It has to be said, packages delivered as expected, a very calm start with no one wanting to push the pace or get into any sort of early break up which definitely won’t work.

Here’s a look at Lafay before the stage in what will likely be his final stage in the green jersey as he is tied on points with Philipsen in 80, who will likely be in the top three at the end. He is pictured here with legendary Tour de France runner, André Darrigade, who has won 22 Tour stages in his career and the points classification twice. He was definitely imagining an end like the day in Nogaro.

181.8 kilometers to go

We are in the process of the fourth stage of the Tour de France 2023! We don’t have anyone fancy an early attack yet, not surprising given how stable the parquet is today.

Early mechanical problem for Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) in neutral territory. He’s back on his back and now he’s back.

Of course, we’ll do a neutral launch 4.5km behind the lead car in southwest France before waving the flag.

The riders are making their way to the starting line now. We have the same four leaders in each of our classifications: Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) in yellow, Victory Lafay (Cofidis) in green, Nelson Paulis (EF-Education EasyPost) in polka dots and Tadezh Bujar (UAE Team Emirates) in white . Laurent Pichon (Arkéa Samsic) is also in the front row after receiving yesterday’s Combat Award.

All riders and teams are currently completing their Dax check-ins as they prepare to start Stage 4. This will be the last flat stage before entering the gates of the Pyrenees and starting to tackle the mountains that straddle the French and Spanish borders. border.

Here’s an early look at Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) from the start today. He’s been enjoying almost every moment of his latest Tour de France and could be just as good at battling for stage victory today. Read below his reaction to finishing sixth yesterday and his thoughts on finishing today as he once again attempts to surpass Eddy Merckx for the most wins in Tour history.

No record but promising signs for Mark Cavendish in the first sprint stage

Yesterday riders complained about safety after Philipsen’s door-locking move on Van Aert was mainly down to the finish design. There was a chicane inside the final kilometer which made Philipsen go for the shortest line to the finish, as sprinters should, and the barriers curved meaning Van Aert really hit a spectator’s phone and held off his sprint to fight another day.

One of the most outspoken was Fabio Jacobsen (Soudal-Quick Step). Catch up on what he had to say after the end below.

Fabio Jacobsen calls out the dangers of ending the Tour de France

Yesterday saw the first sprint of the 2023 Tour de France with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deconink) winning ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Destiny).

It was not a stage without controversy, however, as Philipsen had to wait for the UCI commissioners to review his sprint shots after questions were raised about whether he swerved and affected Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in the sprint. His win was finally confirmed and he will be looking to double his stage win tally today.

Today’s stage should provide another opportunity for sprinters to take it on the 181.8km route from Dax to Nogaro. We’ll be heading east out of Dax, a place known as a spa destination and should sure be a relaxing ride for those in the peloton with only one category 4 climb on the list.

Hey, and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of Stage 4 of the 2023 Tour de France!