2011 Tour de France, Stage 4

The fourth stage started in Lorient and ended  172.5 kilometers later in Mur-de-Bretagne, with a category 3 climb at the finish. This is considered a "lumpy" stage with one other climb, a category 4, just under the halfway point.

After just 9 kilometers, the breakaway happened. Roy attacked first and was followed by Kadri, Erviti, Hoogerland, and Izagirre. With 25km into the stage the leaders hit thier max advantage of 4:35. Erviti is the best-placed rider overall. He lies in 111th place overall,  but only 2:58 down on the Yellow Jersey.

We also had our first abandon today with Van de Walle. He crashed in the 1st stage first stage of the race and had to finally give in to his injuries. We are left with 197 riders.

After three days of beautiful weather and sunshine, today's stage started out under cloudy skies and heavy rain. Most of the riders were in race capes and jackets because of the wet conditions. However, Hoogerland and Roy, leading the break, aren't even wearing arm warmers. Below is Vinokourov with his rain gear on:

As the break reached the top of the first climb, Cote de Laz, Hoogerland attacked to gain the one KOM point. After he crossed the line, he waited for his companions to catch up.

By now, the peloton has begun a cat-and-mouse game with the attackers as they are reeling them in. When there is less than 2'30" of an advantage left, the peloton slows down to allow the attackers more freedom. When it gets above 2'30", the peloton speeds up.

The intermediate sprint results: Hoogerland, Roy, Kadri, Erviti, Izagirre, Farrar, Rojas, Bozic, Cavendish, Galimzyanov, Goss, Engoulvent, Gilbert, Greipel, and Oss.

The final climb to Mur-de-Bretagne is 2km long with an average gradient of 6.9%, however the first kilometer is the killer. Its gradient is an average of 10%! Yet, the steepest part comes midway up, with a section that reaches 12-13%, but then it flattens out considerably in the final kilometer.

With only 3.8km remaining, the break gets caught. And even with BMC controlling the peloton, Contador attacks with 1.3km to go. However, it was Evans that pulled off the win with just millimeters to spare...if that! Take a look at these two photos and see how close the finish was (Contador in White, Evans in Red):



So close infact, that Contador thought that he won! However, not only did the first 15 across get sprint points, but Evans earned 2 KOM points with Contador earning 1.

Stage 4 Results:
1 Evans

2 Contador

3 Vinokourov

4 Uran

5 Gilbert

6 Hushovd

7 F. Schleck

8 Sanchez

9 Van Den Broeck

10 Klöden

Favorite Pictures of the Day:

Voeckler at the beginning in the rain

A. Schleck drinking water while riding