Bluegrass Endurance: 2025 Tour de France Stage 4 Thoughts

Stage 4 - Amiens Metropole to Rouen - 174.2k - Hilly

So, we are back to normal with a break going right at the official start after the neutral roll out. In the break were Lenny Martinez - a climber who was getting dripped in every climb the first two stages and the other rider in the break was Jonas Abrahamsen. Abrahamsen was one of the revelations of last year's tour as he was in most every break in the first weeks and even in the Polkadot Jersey. But the story was that unlike most every rider who seeks to lose weight and be as close to what for some looks like a cadaver he decided to put on 20kilograms (40+ lbs)and it changed who he was and he was stronger and while for sure being the early Polkadot jersey wearer does not mean you are the best climber in the peloton but the one to take chances early in the race. But Abrahamsen's story is a good one in a peloton where being light is the mantra he took the path less traveled and had success - you can read the story here. ( https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-france-unsung-heroes-jonas-abrahamsen-on-gaining-almost-20-kilos-to-go-faster ). Being a bigger guy - cycling wise, myself at 80+kg (180lbs) it is nice to see something other than skeletons at the front so when I see riders like Abrahamsen and others like MVDP and Wout Van Wert up there it gives hope. But the message for us is that you need to find the weight that is best for you as it is not just about being as light as possible. Abrahamsen actually climbed better once he got bigger as he was more of a power rider and when you lose weight you do tend to lose power if your natural weight is higher. Not saying Poggy and Vingegaard don't have power but pretty sure none of us are them:)

Once the break got 2 minutes that was held by the peloton with Alpecin keeping the tempo up as they worked to keep the break in check. The break did gain two other riders, one of which was Kasper Asgreen who is a strong rider, so as to make it 4 riders which would allow them a little longer time out front - but hey they know this was not going to make it to the end with the big names wanting to win this stage. With climbing to come the peloton is working only as hard as they need to so as to keep break in check. Did find it interesting in looking at the course profile that before the first Cat 4 climb - called the Cote Jacques Anquetil - there was a similar climb - oh wait it was not a climb based on the course profile even if it was one:)

As they got close, 52k from end, to the first categorized climb there was a crash on a small raised divider and it took Sep Kuss down but he did get right but but then as the pack is racing to the bottom of the first climb he has to catch back on. Everyone wants to be on the front before a climb as they know it can all blow abort there with 30+ miles to go. Once on the climb the gap got smaller but the 4 stayed away over the top with Asgreen getting the point for the climb.

Next up was the sprint so the pack wanted to catch the front to get the points. So with 10k the gap was down to a minute. But, they held the gap to the sprint with Abrahamsen getting there first but the peloton was not too far behind with Milan getting there before Girmay to add to his Green Jersey lead - next up climb 2 and at the line the peloton was only about 19 seconds behind the leaders which meant lead was short lived.

At the next climb which was 1.3k long and topped out about 30k from the finish. Martinez was able to hang on with Wellens coming from the peloton to get 2nd. But this was the start of the race for the win as while Martinezt opened his gap up to 16 seconds at one point it was inevitable he was going to get caught with 3 more climbs to come and the big guns wanting the win. The lure of the Polkadot jersey kept him out there even if it was unlikely for him to stay there.

With narrow roads and everyone working hard to get to the finish there was a big crash with just under 25k to go. While you would hope things would get less risky it does not as the climbs are not long enough to thin the field so crashes happen with people trying to get in position. I am pretty sure many of the riders start to go cross-eyed this late in a race and that does not help with handling ones bike in a big group which there was at this time.

Climb three, of the five, was only about 900m long and about 7% but this close to the finish, topped out about 20k from finish, everyone is going for it and you need to protect your position. So who do you seeing coming forward - Poggy, well he is always near the front, MVDP, Vingegaad and Remco. You also see the rest of the field really strung out and this is a Cat 4 but at these speeds it might as well be a Cat 3 or 2 since may be a lower category but they just push harder - there are really no easy climbs in the Tour, especially when near the end of a stage.

This stage may not of done much for the majority of it but it ended with a bang with 5 climbs that were just long, and steep, enough to put in the hurt. For many in the peloton this hurts even more as they know they just need to get to the end but the pace just stays high and the closer it gets to the end it just ratchets up every kilometer that is passed. Poggy stayed near the front as did not want to descend and take risks being behind anyone so he just does what he does leads it and in doing so stretched it out.

UAE was just drilling it at the front leading up to the 4th climb so that no one was going to go off the front and when they hit the club it was to be done on tired legs as the pack stretched out heading into the 1.8K climb at 5%. I think it could be seen in hindsight that Poggy had designs on this stage and win number 100. The Alpecin riders added some help to set things up for MVDP. The peloton was greatly reduced by the bottom of this climb with about 12K left from the top to the finish. Good to see Quinn Simmons still there on the 4th climb and up near the front with the big boys. The pace up the climb was about 20mph - yep up a 5% climb.

On the way to the 5th climb Visma attacked with Vingegaard on their wheels and stretched out the peloton. They however did not lose Poggy and MVDP. Keep in mind this is only stage 4 so a long way to go but as seems to be the case they race most every day, not so much yesterday. The last climb is a Cat 3 that was 800m at about 10%. Visma just drilled it and it was just a long line of riders.

You knew this last climb was going to be decisive but who would go and like usual Poggy went 0.2k from the top with Vngeggard on his wheel and MVDP having to sit down and allowed a gap. With only 5k from the top this was key so was not unexpected but thought MVDP would not let them go so quickly but you can only do what you can do so he played it smart. You can see this is going to be a great Tour as Vingegard lost Poggy's wheel at one point and seemed he was done but he dug down and got back on before the top - he is going to do all he can to stay with Poggy - might pay for it later but he knows he can't lose time anywhere. Back behind them was a small peloton (8 riders) which included MVDP and Remco.

The race came down to the last 5K with the 8 riders behind working to get back on which they did with Remco driving the chase. Once they caught on American Mateo Jorgenson went to the front, good to see him there and he went again and got a small gap with 1K to go- but too much fire power behind. I say that but sometimes that is to the advantage to the one ahead as the big guns look at each other but not in this case. So Poggy followed MVDP and got by and MVDP just gave out near the finish and Vingegaard got by. Seemed like a perfect set up for MVDP but Poggy is no slouch and Vingegaard shows he does not want to lose any more time than he has to.

Thus Poggy gets win 100 and MVDP hung on to Yellow and they all go back to rest for the 33k ITT tomorrow that will really tell us what is ahead. It is for sure this was not an easy day n the saddle before a critical ITT so will be interesting to see how they do. Remco said he was just going to sit in but he could not and did not so we shall see. I expect MVDP to lose the Yellow Jersey tomorrow but you never know.

Back to normal at the Tour means all out racing and while that means something different for every rider in tomorrow stage for the guys up front it means you can't hold back. But for the sprinters and domestiques it means riding easy enough to get rest but hard enough to not miss the time cut that is still in play for an ITT.

Race Highlights: