Australia’s Robbie McEwen of Davitamon won the fourth stage of the Tour de France, held over 207km between Huy in Belgium and Saint Quentin, France, on Wednesday.
Belgian Tom Boonen of Quick Step retained the race-leader’s yellow jersey ahead of Thursday’s 225km stage from Beauvais to Caen.
World champion Boonen’s first day in the yellow jersey got off to a perfect start, although his Quick Step team were eventually forced to work along with the other sprinters’ teams in chasing down a breakaway.
Spaniard Egoi Martinzez, who rides for the Discovery Channel team of former yellow-jersey wearer George Hincapie, proved the instigator.
He attacked after just 18,5km of racing in Belgium, and was soon joined by four other riders, including Frenchman Jerome Pineau in the polka dot jersey for the race’s best climber.
Together the five-man group worked together to build a lead on the peloton which, at its maximum, stood at just over four-and-a -alf minutes.
But, with another bunch sprint anticipated at the end of the long home straight, and Boonen intent on keeping both the yellow jersey and the points competition’s green jersey, the breakaway group gave themselves little chance of going all the way.
Boonen’s Quick Step team was soon at the front of the chasing peloton with riders from McEwen’s Davitamon team and the Milram team of another sprinter, Erik Zabel.
At the front, the breakaway shared out all the spoils on offer at the intermediate sprints and at the two climbs featuring on the stage.
It meant Pineau ended the day still in the polka dot jersey, and it also meant that the battle for possession of the points classification’s green jersey would be at the finish line, where further points are also available.
Their lead, however, soon began to drop as the peloton increased the pace, dropping from 3 minutes 10 seconds at the 149km mark to 2 minutes 30km further on. With 15km to race, their breakaway seemed doomed as the sprinters’ teams bore down.
And so it proved, giving McEwen the chance to show off his stunning finishing speed to leave the other sprinters in his wake. — AFP
