Tadej Pogacar storms back into yellow jersey after blowing rivals away on Galibier

Asked to assess the damage to his Tour de France hopes of another breathless stage in which he shipped almost a minute to his great rival Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard smiled. And then, like Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon on Monday, he reached for a footballing analogy. “We’re 1-0 down,” the Dane admitted to reporters outside his team bus in the Alpine resort of Valloire half an hour or so after the stage ended. “But we expected to be 3-0 behind by now. So I think that’s a small win. We know what we’re doing. We will see by the end of the Tour.”

It was fighting talk. And Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) may well be proved right in the end. But this was definitely a significant win for Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates squad who played their cards to perfection on the first big mountain test of the race.

Arriving at the foot of the Galibier, and despite riding into a block headwind, UAE Team Emirates wound up the pace in the bunch to such a degree that one by one Vingegaard lost his helpers. Matteo Jorgenson was the last to go, the American dropping out with around 4km of the 23km climb to the 2,642m summit remaining, as the last of the day’s breakaway was caught. Pogacar lay waiting. And then he pounced.

Powering clear in the last 1km to the summit, the Slovenian dropped everyone bar Vingegaard in short order. It looked initially as if the Dane might hang on, as he did on Sunday on the San Luca climb in Bologna. Only this time, crucially, Pogacar managed to eke out a small advantage, 10 seconds, over the summit.

The Slovenian increased that by another 25 seconds on the descent, his decision to go with slightly heavier wheels with deeper aero rims, rather than climbing wheels like Vingegaard and most of the rest of the bunch, paying off.

Pogacar’s win, combined with time bonuses, gives him a 50sec lead over Vingegaard who actually drops to third in the general classification, behind Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step). The Belgian was part of a group who caught up to Vingegaard on the descent and then managed to outkick him on the uphill finish in Valloire.

It was a fascinating finish and it sets the race up perfectly. If it is anything like last year, Vingegaard, who was in a hospital bed less than three months ago after crashing in the Basque Country, will get stronger and the two will take lumps out of each other until one is knocked out.

Vingegaard sounded confident that would be Pogacar, as it has been for the last two years.

“I think of course it’s a shame to lose time but to be honest when we came into the Tour we expected to be behind in all four stages [so far],” he argued. “So to only lose time in one of them I think we can be pretty happy. And to be honest most of the time I lost today, I lost in the downhill where weight mattered more. So I think we can actually be happy.”

That is one way of looking at it. The other way of looking at it is that Pogacar now knows he is the stronger rider and has the stronger team. The 2020 and 2021 winner still had four team-mates with him when Vingegaard ran out of help.

‘To ride on the front you need to have big balls like we had today’

Pogacar paid tribute to the likes of team-mates Juan Ayuso, João Almeida and Britain’s Adam Yates. “From Briançon to the top of the Galibier there was a really strong headwind,” he noted. “So to ride on the front you need to have big balls like we had today. So hats off to the whole team. For sure today we showed we have one of the strongest teams here. It’s crazy. We did a super amazing job and we need to continue like this.”

It was not just about the top two of course. Evenepoel produced an excellent ride to crest the Galibier in touch with the leaders before catching Vingegaard on the descent. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) were also in that group.

It was a less good day for Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). The first Ecuadorian in history to wear the yellow jersey, he found it heavy, losing over five minutes to Pogacar and tumbling out of contention. It was also a disappointing day for Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) whose daredevil descent off the Galibier two years ago set him up for his win on Alpe d’Huez. This time he was unable to stay with the top general classification riders on the climb.

Wednesday’s fifth stage from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas, just outside Lyon, should provide Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) with his next opportunity to sprint for the 35th Tour stage win if he can get over a couple of fourth category climbs, the second of which comes 20km from the finish. Thursday’s stage into Dijon, by contrast, is a nailed-on sprint.

Tadej Pogacar wins stage four to take yellow: As it happened

04:59 PM BST

Pogacar in yellow

04:58 PM BST

Evenepoel leads young rider classification

04:56 PM BST

Abrahamsen still leads mountains classification

04:51 PM BST

UAE Team Emirates lead team classification

04:42 PM BST

Back into yellow

Pog took the maillot jaune after stage two and then lost it to Richard Carapaz after stage three, but he is back in yellow.

04:37 PM BST

The thoughts of stage winner and yellow jersey holder Tadej Pogacar

04:29 PM BST

The stage is Pog’s

04:22 PM BST

Top ten in the GC

04:18 PM BST

Stage four results

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 3hrs 46mins 48secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +35secs

3. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) Same time

4. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) “

5. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +37secs

6. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) Same time

7. Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) +53secs

8. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) Same time

9. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2mins 41secs

10. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) Same time

04:10 PM BST

Top five over the line

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +35”

3. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates)

4. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

5. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)

04:06 PM BST

The final kilometre

04:06 PM BST

Carapaz finishes

The Ecuadorian started the day in yellow but he will have to hand it over to Pogacar. He comes in just over five minutes down alongside his teammate Ben Healy.

04:02 PM BST

The rest come in

Evenepoel comes over the line in second with Ayuso third and Roglic fourth. Vingegaard comes in just behind.

04:00 PM BST

Pogacar wins

He attacked near the top of the Galibier and has descended brilliantly. Pogacar wins stage four and takes the maillot jaune.

03:59 PM BST

1km to go

Under the flamme rouge Pogacar goes and he is racing into yellow.

03:57 PM BST

3km to go

The trio of Rodriguez, Roglic and Ayuso have caught up to Vingegaard. Evenepoel has also made his way on so we have a quintet 35 seconds behind Pogacar.

03:55 PM BST

5km to go

We are into the final 5kms. Pogacar is now 30 seconds ahead.

03:54 PM BST

7km to go

Vingegaard is losing more time in this descent, he is nearly 30 seconds behind Pogacar now.

03:52 PM BST

10km to go

Pogacar now has a 17-second advantage over Vingegaard as he goes under the 10km banner and is heading for the yellow jersey.

03:50 PM BST

12km to go

Evenepoel was the third man on the road but Roglic and Rodriguez have overtaken him.

03:46 PM BST

16km to go

It is a fast descent off the Galibier. Pogacar is around nine seconds ahead of Vingegaard and Evenepoel is third on the road. Roglic is 30 seconds down on Poagacar. Carapaz is now four minutes down and is still climbing.

03:43 PM BST

18km to go

Pogacar goes over the top first and takes six bonus seconds. Vingegaard rolls over around six seconds behind.

03:42 PM BST

19km to go

Pogacar is putting a little distance into Vingegaard.

03:41 PM BST

19km to go

Like on stage two, Vingegaard is the only one who can respond.

03:41 PM BST

19km to go

Pogacar attacks with 800 metres left of the Galibier!

03:39 PM BST

20km to go

The riders who are in the front group include the big four; Pogacar, Vingegaard, Roglic and Evenepoel.

Just one kilometre of the Galibier remains for the leaders.

03:36 PM BST

21km to go

Almeida is unhappy and gets on the team radio, seemingly calling for his teammate Ayuso to get up to the front to do a turn.

Carapaz is now one minute 45 seconds down, losing heaps of time.

03:34 PM BST

22km to go

Yates is gone for UAE Team Emirates so Almeida is on the front for them. Vingegaard is on his wheel with Pogacar right behind the Dane.

03:33 PM BST

23km to go

Vingegaard is losing teammates as Matteo Jorgenson loses contact. UAE Team Emirates are flexing their muscles with 4km of the Galibier left.

03:31 PM BST

24km to go

The pace is frightening in the lead group as more and more riders are being spat out the back. The group is quite small now. Carapaz is 50 seconds behind now.

Geraint Thomas is another rider dropped.

03:28 PM BST

25km to go

Richard Carapaz took yellow at the end of yesterday’s stage but it looks like he is going to lose it as he is losing contact with the peloton. 6km of the Galibier to go.

03:26 PM BST

26km to go

Not good news for the Brits as Tom Pidcock and Simon Yates have been dropped.

03:25 PM BST

26km to go

The breakaway is no more. The peloton has got to Luzkano and now they are the front of the race. When are we going to get our first attack from the big hitters? Surely imminently.

03:22 PM BST

27km to go

Remco Evenepoel’s team Soudal-Quick Step are very present at the front of the peloton. Does he fancy an attack soon?

The peloton has now swallowed up most of the breakaway now.

03:19 PM BST

28km to go

Through a tunnel Lazkano has attacked and the trio of Gaudu, Johannessen and Juul-Jensen cannot respond for the time being. The peloton are closing in. Still 9km of the Gailibier remain.

03:17 PM BST

30km to go

Wellens is done at the front of the peloton and Marc Soler takes over now for UAE Team Emirates. The gap to the front four is down to 50 seconds now.

03:12 PM BST

31km to go

It is now a four-man group at the front as Gaudu and Lazkano have been joined by Juul-Jensen and Johannessen.

03:11 PM BST

32km to go

There has been a small avalanche of snow near the top of the Galibier but the organisers have worked hard to clear it.

David Gaudu has joined Lazkano at the front.

03:08 PM BST

33km to go

With UAE Team Emirates bringing down the gap to the breakaway quickly, something needs to change at the front. So Oier Lazkano of Movistar has attacked.

van der Poel has been dropped from the breakaway as has Barguil.

GC riders swiftly closing in. Time bonuses (8sec, 5sec and 2sec) for the first three to reach the top of the Galibier, remember.

03:05 PM BST

34km to go

Politt has done all he can and that is his day done. Tim Wellens has taken over at the front of the peloton for UAE Team Emirates. They have reduced the gap to the breakaway down to under one and a half minutes.

03:03 PM BST

35km to go

The big hitters:

02:57 PM BST

37km to go

Nils Politt is on the front of the peloton for UAE Team Emirates and he is pushing hard, which is stringing out the peloton. The gap ahead to the breakaway is just over two minutes. Still a mere 18 kilometres remain up the Galibier!

Meanwhile:

02:49 PM BST

42km to go

Here we go. We have hit the foot of the Galibier. Let the fireworks begin!

At the foot of the climb the breakaway’s lead is over two and a half minutes.

02:40 PM BST

47km to go

We are just a few kilometres from the start of the Galibier.

The big question today is whether UAE try to put the hammer down on the Galibier. I’m sure that must have been the plan for today at the start of the week - ride aggressively and try to hurt Vingegaard before he has time to build up his fitness (post-accident). You sense that Vingegaard’s performance in the first part of the race, particularly that finish in Bologna two days ago, has really changed the dynamic and made UAE second guess themselves. Do they want to burn matches now, knowing Pogacar already has a grand tour in his legs and seeing the form Vingegaard is in? It might come back to bite them later in the race? Or do they want to have another crack at him?

02:31 PM BST

53km to go

The breakaway’s lead back to the peloton is just under two minutes. We are around 10km away from the start of the Galibier.

02:25 PM BST

57km to go

There has been a split in the peloton on the descent as yellow jersey man Carapaz was caught out but the whole group is now back together.

02:20 PM BST

62km to go

Top four at the summit of Col de Montgenèvre:

1. Stephen Williams, 5 pts

2. Warren Barguil, 3 pts

3. Valentin Madouas, 2 pts

4. Tobias Johannessen, 1 pt

02:17 PM BST

64km to go

We are now on the descent before the riders then hit the Galibier. The peloton are currently two minutes behind the breakaway.

02:14 PM BST

68km to go

The breakaway hits the top of the climb and the king of the mountains points available are the same as on the previous climb. Barguil attacks early but it is Williams once again who snatches it. Madouas is third.

02:10 PM BST

70km to go

We have just crossed the border from Italy into France and the Tour is home for the first time in 2024. The breakaway are just one kilometre from the summit of the Col de Montgenèvre.

02:06 PM BST

71km to go

Stunning drive over the Galibier to Valloire this morning. Busy up there (and windy). Lots of snow at the top. It’s going to be fascinating to see whether Tom Pidcock goes for it again on the descent where made his name two years ago. OK, not made his name. He was already Olympic Mountain Bike champion and Cyclo-cross world champion etc etc But it certainly made him more famous. It still makes my palms sweat watching it. Terrifying.

02:00 PM BST

73km to go

The breakaway are about halfway up the Col de Montgenèvre and their lead over the peloton currently stands at three minutes.

01:53 PM BST

76km to go

As the peloton hit the foot of the climb, it is Visma-Lease a Bike who are at the head of it.

01:51 PM BST

77km to go

The breakaway reaches the foot of the Col de Montgenèvre, an 8.3km climb. The peloton are two and a half minutes behind. When we get towards the top of the climb we will leave Italy and head into France.

01:48 PM BST

79km to go

We are currently descending from the top of Sestrières but soon we will be climbing again up the Col de Montgenèvre, which is a category two climb.

01:46 PM BST

83km to go

Top four at the summit of Sestrières:

1. Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), 5pts

2. Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), 3pts

3. Warren Barguil (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), 2pts

4. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), 1pts

01:40 PM BST

89km to go

There are five points, three points and two points available to the top three across the line. Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) beats Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) to the line with Warren Barguil third (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL).

01:38 PM BST

90km to go

The breakaway are inside a kilometre of the summit of Sestrières, with an advantage back to the peloton of just over two minutes.

01:36 PM BST

91km to go

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard won stage 11 in the 2022 Tour de France which included the climb up the Galibier. His preparation to this year’s Tour was far from ideal as he crashed a couple of months ago on the fourth stage at the Tour of the Basque Country, suffering a punctured lung and fractured ribs and collarbone. Here he is speaking ahead of today’s stage:

01:31 PM BST

92km to go

Over six minutes off the lead group we have all the main sprinters, including Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Fabio Jakobsen (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and yesterday’s stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), who are all in one large group.

Up in the peloton Pogacar was momentarily off the back for a natural break so the pace slows a little to allow him back on.

01:26 PM BST

94km to go

The breakaway are coming towards the top of Sestrières and their lead to the peloton is three minutes.

01:24 PM BST

95km to go

Richard Carapaz currently is in possession of the yellow jersey, but his build-up to the 2024 Tour was far from ideal. He crashed at the Tour de Suisse, which he had to abandon and then fell sick. He won the 2019 Giro d’Italia with Movistar before moving to Ineos. EF Education-EasyPost snapped him up ahead of the 2023 season, with their manager Jonathan Vaughters admitting that they risked everything on Carapaz and poured everything into him ahead of the 2023 Tour. Carapaz was forced to abandon the Tour last year after a crash on stage one.

01:12 PM BST

102km to go

There are 17 riders currently in the breakaway. Here is a full rundown of all those riders;

Odd Christian Eking, Tobias Johannessen (both UNO-X Mobility), David Gaudu, Valentin Madouas, Romain Gregoire (all Groupama-FDJ), Warren Barguil (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-Ag2R La Mondiale), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), Cristian Rodriguez, Raul Garcia Pierna (both Arkea-B&B Hotels), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan), Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-Alula), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Their lead over the peloton is around one minute.

01:04 PM BST

106km to go

Quite a sizeable breakaway has formed and they now have 30 seconds on the peloton. This group consists of van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), David Gaudu and Valentin Madouas (both Groupama-FDJ).

12:58 PM BST

108km to go

It is still very frantic at the front as every breakaway so far has struggled to get away. van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has joined the font group but they have just a matter of seconds on the peloton.

12:54 PM BST

110km to go

The breakaway has now been joined by Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkea-B&B Hotels) but they are struggling to get away from the peloton.

12:52 PM BST

112km to go

We have a four-man breakaway at the moment; Tobias Johannessen (Unp-X Mobility), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan), Oier Lazkano (Movistar) and Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-Alula). They only have ten seconds on the peloton.

12:50 PM BST

114km to go

Wout van Aert has dropped off the peloton and is around 50 seconds back. It looks like he will not be his day at all.

There were some concerns for Ineos Grenadiers and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as Egan Bernal and Primoz Roglic were in a little strife but they are safely now back in the peloton.

12:41 PM BST

119km to go

Results of the intermediate sprint:

1. Mads Pedersen

2. Biniam Girmay

3. Bryan Coquard

4. Jasper Philipsen

5. Jonas Abrahamsen

12:39 PM BST

120km to go

Pedersen takes the 20 points on offer in the points classification with yesterday’s stage winner Biniam Girmay taking second. Jasper Philipsen was interested but gave up in the end.

One sprinter who was not in contention was Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), who has dropped off the back of the peloton.

12:37 PM BST

121km to go

We are approaching the intermediate sprint as Castel del Bosco. Lidl-Trek are setting it up for Pedersen.

12:34 PM BST

123km to go

The speed of the peloton has meant that the breakaway has been caught which in turn is probably going to spark more attacks.

12:32 PM BST

125km to go

The pace is still frantic in the peloton, which I am sure the sprinters will not be enjoying. They will want things to settle down in the peloton. The gap to the breakaway is only just over ten seconds. Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Deceuninck is the one forcing the pace at the front of the peloton and that felt very planed by the team as that sets up an attack by Mathieu van der Poel.

12:27 PM BST

129km to go

We now begin the 39.9km climb up to Sestrières, a long, gradual climb. The breakaway has a 20-second lead over the peloton.

12:25 PM BST

130km to go

Pedersen has been joined by five other riders; Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Frank van den Broek (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) and Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility). Their lead back to the peloton is just over ten seconds.

12:20 PM BST

134km to go

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has gone out in front and others are trying to join him. There is an intermediate sprint coming up in around 15km as Castel del Bosco so Pedersen might be thinking of that. The peloton is still flying along.

12:17 PM BST

136km to go

We have a long, gradual climb up to Sestrières to begin this stage. The pace is fast and no-one has got away yet.

12:15 PM BST

138km to go

Attacks start straight away as the peloton is massively strung out very quickly. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is right at the front.

12:14 PM BST

Flag drops

Off we go!

12:11 PM BST

Carapaz ready

12:06 PM BST

Neutralised start

The roll-out from Pinerolo has begun and we are just under four kilometres away from the flag dropping.

12:03 PM BST

Rider abandons

Ahead of stage four, Soudal-Quick Step have announced that Casper Pedersen has abandoned the Tour. He crashed in the final stages of yesterday’s stage and has suffered a fractured collarbone. We wish him well in his recovery. Get well soon Casper.

11:55 AM BST

Carapaz in yellow ahead of stage four

11:50 AM BST

Stage four profile

11:16 AM BST

Battle in the Alps

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of stage four of the 2024 Tour de France. Yesterday was a day of firsts at the Tour. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) became the first black African to win a stage at the Tour de France after winning a sprint finish in Turin. He beat out Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) to take his first stage at the Tour, having previously won a stage at the Giro d’Italia in 2022.

A crash with just over two kilometres to go caused chaos as a number of the main contenders for the sprint were affected including Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), who was looking to win an historic 35th stage at the Tour, and Jasper Philipsen, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who won four stages at the Tour last year and lost his leadout man Mathieu van der Poel to a puncture in the final 10km.

Although all the general classification contenders were handed the same time after the crash inside five kilometres, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) has taken the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) after finishing higher up at the finish on stage three. Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to claim the yellow leader’s jersey but he has a job on his hands keeping it today.

Today’s stage will have significant ramifications on the contest for the yellow jersey as we will enter into France for the first time during today’s stage. We have a 139.6km stage in store from Pinerolo to Valloire, which includes the climb up the hors catégorie Col du Galibier as the riders climb into the Alps. In 2022 Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) won stage 11 which included the climb up the Galibier, finishing nearly three minutes ahead of Pogacar. We will find out a lot today about Pogacar, Vingegaard, Carapaz, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Pogacar attacked on stage two into Bologna and Vingegaard was the only one to keep up. What will the form of Pogacar and Vingegaard be like today? Can the likes of Carapaz, Evenepoel and Roglic keep up? All those questions will be answered in the hours ahead so stick with us throughout stage four.