2019 Tour de France Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 of the 2019 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Viviani nabs elusive Tour de France stage win\nBy Clara Beard
Elia Viviani delivered Deceuninck-Quick Step’s second win of the 2019 Tour de France and the 48th win for the team this season after a dominant performance into the city of Nancy today. The Italian patiently timed his sprint perfectly, coming from behind his lead-out riders Max Richeze and Michael Morkov to pass Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) at the line. Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) took third.
The win marks the first time the Italian has won a stage at the Tour de France and completes his grand tour trifecta.
“This victory means a lot to me,” Viviani said. “I can’t believe it. It was my biggest goal of the year. I missed first chance on stage 1 in Brussels, but after Julian [Alaphilippe] won yesterday, it switched on the team. My lead-out men Michael Morkov and Max Richez did a perfect job. I only had to finish it off in the last 180 meters. I just focused on my lead out today. Alexander Kristoff tried to anticipate on the right but I was ready to jump. After winning stages at the Giro and La Vuelta, this feels like mission accomplished.”
Nothing changed in the jersey standings, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) still leads the overall by 20 seconds ahead of best young rider Wout van Aert.
“For sure this was a very special day I will never forget,” Alaphilippe said. “Since when I woke up, when I went to the start line, I felt things I’d never felt before. The public, the cries, it was something special. I’ve felt the difference to a normal day. It’s a different world. On the peloton, everyone was happy about me. I heard my first name every 10 seconds today. It’s hard to explain. I don’t chase popularity: I just want to make people happy. But we also had something to do for Elia [Viviani] and that special day ended the best possible way with his stage win and keeping the yellow jersey. Tomorrow it will be harder. For sure, we will continue to defend the jersey. If I lose it, it’ll mean someone will beat us but I won’t give up.”
Another 200 kilometre plus flat and fast day was on the menu today. Michael Schär (CCC), Frederik Backaert and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) attacked from the gun and made up the breakaway selection. They held an advantage of about three minutes for the majority of the stage, while Lotto-Soudal, Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-Quick Step set the tempo in the peloton.
As is typical for a sprint stage, the breakaway was caught with 16 kilometres to go, and from there, the sprint and GC teams began to hunt for position at the front of the bunch. Lilian Calmejane (Total Direct Energie) launched a late attack with six kilometres to go, but today was all about the sprinters.
With the help of the yellow jersey, Alaphilippe, the Deceuninck-Quick Step team sent Viviani into the perfect position to contest the sprint, and the Italian accelerated passed his rivals to post up for the win.
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