The second weekend of the Virtual Tour de France concluded with the explosive 46 km stage of Casse-Pattes. The early sprints were hotly contested as usual, but it was the Petit KOM where the gaps started to form.
Pier-André Coté and Nickolas Zukowsky made it into the front split over the first ascent and were soon joined by a group containing Rob Britton. But on the final climb, eight riders attacked and stayed away until the finish.
“It was surprising how bad the last climb hurt considering the pace we went over it,” shared Coté. “I think everyone was paying for the effort we had to sustain throughout the whole race.”
The stage was won by Freddy Ovett of Israel Start-Up Nation and Coté won the sprint from the second group to take ninth.
“I wanted to be at the front to fight for the win,” Coté said. “But today’s result confirms once again that my sprint can truly be a weapon in the virtual world.”
Zukowsky and Britton finished in 15th and 24th respectively, adding valuable points to maintain the team’s second place in the yellow jersey standings and on team GC before the crucial final weekend.
“Fighting for the Maillot Jaune has been a goal since the start of this competition. Stacking the top 25 once again shows how consistent we are on the platform.”
In the women’s race, the pressure was on right from the start with riders being dropped all over the course. April Tacey of Drops took her second win from a small group, while Megan Jastrab was Rally Cycling’s top finisher, crossing the line in 32nd.
The Virtual Tour de France comes to an end next weekend with two stages that promise to provide an explosive finale. On stage 5, the peloton must endure the summit finish of Ven-Top, Zwift’s version of Mont Ventoux, before stage 6 takes the race around a virtual re-creation of the famous Champs-Élysées circuit. The women kick things off at 7:53 a.m. CDT with the men starting an hour later.
Rally Cycling’s Virtual Tour de France Primer:
Check out our men’s and women’s rosters
How to watch and stream the Virtual Tour live
What is Virtual Racing?
Men’s Stage 4 results
1 Freddy Ovett (AUS) Israel Start-Up Nation 58:06
2 Nick Schultz (AUS) Mitchelton-Scott
3 Michael Valgren (DEN) NTT Pro Cycling
4 Will Clarke (AUS) Trek-Segafredo
5 Valentin Madouas (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
6 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Pro Cycling +00:01
7 Daniel Turek (CZE) Israel Start-Up Nation +00:02
8 Michael Gogl (AUT) NTT Pro Cycling
9 Pier-André Coté (CAN) Rally Cycling +00:10
10 Ben Gastauer (LUX) AG2R La Mondiale +00:11
15 Nickolas Zukowsky (CAN) Rally Cycling +00:12
24 Rob Britton (CAN) Rally Cycling +00:41
Women’s Stage 4 results
1 April Tacey (GBR) Drops 1:04:47
2 Anna Henderson (GBR) Team Sunweb
3 Lauren Stephens (USA) TIBCO-SVB
4 Leah Dixon (GBR) TIBCO-SVB
5 Chloe Dygert (USA) TEAM TWENTY20
6 Romy Kasper (GER) Parkhotel Valkenberg
7 Lisa Brennauer (GER) Ceratizit-WNT
8 Liane Lippert (GER) Team Sunweb
9 Joss Lowden (GBR) Drops
10 Eugenia Bujak (SLO) Alé BTC Ljubljana
32 Megan Jastrab (USA) Rally Cycling
Men’s Yellow Jersey Classification
1 NTT PRO CYCLING TEAM 263
2 RALLY CYCLING 188
3 TREK – SEGAFREDO 162
4 ISRAEL START – UP NATION 161
5 MITCHELTON – SCOTT 110
6 EF PRO CYCLING 109
7 ALPECIN – FENIX 99
8 AG2R LA MONDIALE 84
9 TEAM INEOS 80
10 GROUPAMA – FDJ 75
Women’s Yellow Jersey Classification
1 TEAM TIBCO – SILICON VALLEY BANK 277
2 DROPS 219
3 CANYON / /SRAM RACING 206
4 TEAM TWENTY20 189
5 CCC – LIV 148
6 TEAM SUNWEB 121
7 CERATIZIT – WNT PRO CYCLING TEAM 110
8 BOELS DOLMANS CYCLING TEAM 82
9 FDJ NOUVELLE – AQUITAINE FUTUROSCOPE 82
10 RALLY CYCLING 77
Men’s Team G.C.
1 NTT PRO CYCLING TEAM 502
2 RALLY CYCLING 260
3 ISRAEL START – UP NATION 252
4 TREK – SEGAFREDO 234
5 MITCHELTON – SCOTT 226
6 EF PRO CYCLING 191
7 ALPECIN – FENIX 179
8 CCC TEAM 155
9 TEAM INEOS 133
10 GROUPAMA – FDJ