Tadej Pogačar claimed his first stage win of this year’s Tour de France – and the 100th of his professional career – by out-sprinting Mathieu van der Poel at the end of a tense and explosive fourth stage into Rouen. Jonas Vingegaard finished third after a strong attacking ride, while Oscar Onley continued his remarkable debut Tour with fourth place in the reduced front group. The result handed Pogačar the yellow jersey, taking it off Van der Poel, who had led since stage 1.
The stage began with a flurry of early attacks, and it wasn’t long before Lenny Martinez and Jonas Abrahamsen opened the first meaningful gap. Thomas Gachignard bridged across to them, followed later by Kasper Asgreen, who chased solo for nearly 10km before making contact. The quartet was allowed around two minutes’ advantage, but never looked likely to stay away. With Alpecin-Deceuninck and UAE Team Emirates controlling the tempo, the gap was closely monitored throughout the rolling terrain that made up the first half of the 174km route from Amiens Métropole to Rouen.
As the break collected points at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Adrien and across the first climbs, including Côte Jacques Anquetil and Côte de Belbeuf, Tim Wellens was picking up the scraps behind to extend his lead in the polka-dot jersey. With the climbs stacked in the final 50km, and the speed increasing through the technical run-in, the breakaway’s lead was down to seconds as they reached the outskirts of Rouen. Martinez went solo briefly on the steep Belbeuf climb, but the catch was inevitable with UAE turning the screw.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Billy CeustersFinal climbs shatter the race as Pogačar times it perfectly
The tension rose heading into the final sequence of climbs, with teams fighting for position on narrow, twisting roads. UAE and Visma-Lease a Bike each sent riders to the front to drive the pace, with Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts both visible alongside João Almeida and Tim Wellens. The peloton splintered further over the Côte de la Grand’Mare as riders like Ben Healy and Julian Alaphilippe dropped away.
On the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, Pogačar struck. Accelerating midway up the climb, he immediately distanced everyone except Vingegaard, who fought to stay on his wheel. For a moment it looked like the pair might go clear to the line, but the chasing group – led by Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Onley and Almeida – closed the gap with just over a kilometre to go. Matteo Jorgenson then launched an attack just before the flamme rouge, forcing Almeida to react and setting up a chaotic finale.
Almeida led into the final 500 metres, Van der Poel opened up the sprint early, and Pogačar waited. As the gradient began to rise, Van der Poel’s momentum faded. Pogačar surged past in the final 100 metres to claim the win in style. Vingegaard came home third, a wheel behind, while Onley once again showed maturity beyond his years to hang on for fourth. For Pogačar, it was the win he had clearly been targeting – the rainbow bands on full display, and yellow added to the collection.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Billy Ceusters2025 Tour de France Stage 4 result
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Main photo credit: A.S.O.
