He’s got his first stage win of this Tour de France! Tadej Pogacar beat Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with an impressive sprint on the streets of Rouen in stage four. And it wasn’t just any victory: it marked the 100th win of the 26-year-old Slovenian’s career. With this triumph, he is now tied on time with yellow jersey wearer Van der Poel, who still keeps the lead
In the final sprint, Van der Poel looked set for his second stage win after Visma | Lease a Bike ensured Pogacar couldn’t ride away on the last climb and UAE made sure Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) didn’t get clear either. The yellow jersey wearer opened his sprint from the front but saw Pogacar come past. “Was I at my limit? Yes, everyone was at their limit today,” Pogacar said afterwards in the flash interview.
The world road champion had already attacked earlier on the Rampe Saint-Hilaire (800 meters at 9.4%), the last real climb of the day. “I tried,” the stage winner reflected. “Jonas (Vingegaard, ed.) could still follow. Then everything came back together. João (Almeida, ed.) did an amazing job with the lead-out for me while everyone was attacking. I’m super proud of the team. I have no words for it, it’s really a beautiful win.”
