Pogacar beats Van der Poel to win Tour stage four in 100th career victory
The 174.2km ride from Amiens to Rouen came down to a sprint finish between the top three in the overall standings, with the Slovenian world champion getting the better of the Dutchman, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) coming in third.
Pogacar, the world champion, tried to go it alone, and while Van der Poel retains the yellow jersey, the three-time Tour de France champion hit his milestone win, along with joining the Dutchman at the top of the leader board.
'To win at the Tour is incredible, in this jersey even more, and to have 100 victories is amazing,' Pogacar said.
A breakaway group of four riders — Lenny Martinez, Jonas Abrahamsen, Thomas Gachignard and Kasper Asgreen — got away early but the peloton, led by Van der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck team, kept them well within reach.
💯 WINS #TDF2025 l @TamauPogi pic.twitter.com/kBxd3cnkJr
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2025
The action was always going to come in the closing 50km, with five categorised climbs packed into the finale, and Martinez was the last to be caught with 20km remaining, shortly after a crash had brought down several riders in the bunch.
Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates took control at the front coming to the penultimate climb, before Visma-Lease a Bike took over, pushing hard on the descent, as anticipation grew for a late attack.
When it came on the final climb, it was the expected break from Pogacar, but he was unable to shake off two-times champion Vingegaard, and the pair were joined by five other riders, including Van der Poel, to set up a high-stakes finish.
Van der Poel went first, looking for his second stage win in three days, but Pogacar had the legs to overtake before the line, and made up the four seconds which separated the pair overall thanks to the stage win bonus.
'With so many good riders in the final, you're always a bit on the edge and nervous about what's going to happen,' Pogacar said.
'You never until the final, like today. You get this adrenaline. It's pure racing and I enjoy it.'
Vingegaard and Pogacar have won the last five Tours between them, and the Dane remains third overall, eight seconds behind the leading pair.
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IOL News
2 hours ago
- IOL News
'Big adrenalin' propels Tadej Pogacar to Tour stage and 100th career win
Pogacar wins fourth stage Tadej Pogacar cycles to the finish line to win ahead of Jonas Vingegaard taking third place during the 4th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 174.2 km between Amiens Metropole and Rouen, Northern France, on Tuesday. Photo: Loic Venance/AFP Image: Loic Venance/AFP Tadej Pogacar blew past his rivals in an "explosive" finish to take Tour de France stage four at Rouen on Tuesday and claim his 100th professional victory. "That was really pure, classic Tour-de-France-style explosive," said an elated Pogacar. The win did not quite bring him the overall lead. Dutch powerhouse Mathieu van der Poel finished second to keep the yellow jersey. Pogacar attacked on an incline to the line to finish just ahead of Van der Poel with Jonas Vingegaard third. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. Video Player is loading. 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Next Stay Close ✕ It was the 26-year-old Slovenian's 18th Tour de France stage win as he seeks a fourth overall triumph on the Tour. "There was big adrenalin and a big field of contenders," Pogacar said. Fans were treated to another Pogacar-Vingegaard head-to-head duel as five hills made the final 40km a roller-coaster. Van der Poel also entered the fray and kept the overall lead he took from Alpecin teammate Jasper Philipsen, who quit the Tour injured after a nasty fall on Monday. "Jasper needs to recover, and I hope he understands how hard I tried to win for him today," Van der Poel said. On the day's final real climb, Pogacar dropped all his rivals with only Vingegaard offering a real fight. But the big Dutch rider and the slender Dane both came back at Pogacar, making him fight all the way to the line in a thunderous finale. The same trio top the overall standings, with Pogacar second and Vingegaard in third. Van der Poel took the overall lead on stage two but risks losing it on Wednesday's time trial. "I should be happy to have the jersey again," said Van der Poel. "I was surrounded by climbers out there you know." "Tadej was stronger and it's as simple as that." Plenty of falls Unlike the opening three stages, there was hardly a puff of wind and not a drop of rain, but there were still plenty of falls. There was also a knifing incident with a man at Rouen slightly injuring a police officer before himself being shot as he tried to escape. Neither the police officer nor the alleged culprit suffered life-threatening injuries. Stage five will shake up the overall standings with a 33km individual time trial around Caen. The stage is being billed as the day Remco Evenepoel will finally slip into the overall leader's yellow jersey. To do so the 25-year-old Belgian world and Olympic champion in the discipline will need to cover the course 59sec faster than Pogacar and Vingegaard. "Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the big day, the real test of how good everyone is," said Pogacar. "Don't count Remco out," he added. "He's the best in the world and he'll be going full gas, like me." The man who designs the race, Thierry Gouvenou, predicted big time differences on the time trial. "It's flat and runs through exposed plains. This is a course designed for the specialists. You need to be aerodynamic and powerful," he said, which suggests it could suit Evenepoel in particular. "This is a red letter day for all the main contenders." Rarely lacking in confidence, Evenepoel was true to form. "I can put a minute into them all tomorrow," he said in Rouen after the fourth stage. The first mountains come as late as stage 10 over the volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome, with two more colossal climbing days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps. AFP Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
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Pogacar beats Van der Poel to win Tour stage four in 100th career victory
Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar overtook race leader Mathieu van der Poel just before the line to win stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday, and is now level at the top of the general classification after earning his 100th career victory. The 174.2km ride from Amiens to Rouen came down to a sprint finish between the top three in the overall standings, with the Slovenian world champion getting the better of the Dutchman, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) coming in third. Pogacar, the world champion, tried to go it alone, and while Van der Poel retains the yellow jersey, the three-time Tour de France champion hit his milestone win, along with joining the Dutchman at the top of the leader board. 'To win at the Tour is incredible, in this jersey even more, and to have 100 victories is amazing,' Pogacar said. A breakaway group of four riders — Lenny Martinez, Jonas Abrahamsen, Thomas Gachignard and Kasper Asgreen — got away early but the peloton, led by Van der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck team, kept them well within reach. 💯 WINS #TDF2025 l @TamauPogi — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2025 The action was always going to come in the closing 50km, with five categorised climbs packed into the finale, and Martinez was the last to be caught with 20km remaining, shortly after a crash had brought down several riders in the bunch. Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates took control at the front coming to the penultimate climb, before Visma-Lease a Bike took over, pushing hard on the descent, as anticipation grew for a late attack. When it came on the final climb, it was the expected break from Pogacar, but he was unable to shake off two-times champion Vingegaard, and the pair were joined by five other riders, including Van der Poel, to set up a high-stakes finish. Van der Poel went first, looking for his second stage win in three days, but Pogacar had the legs to overtake before the line, and made up the four seconds which separated the pair overall thanks to the stage win bonus. 'With so many good riders in the final, you're always a bit on the edge and nervous about what's going to happen,' Pogacar said. 'You never until the final, like today. You get this adrenaline. It's pure racing and I enjoy it.' Vingegaard and Pogacar have won the last five Tours between them, and the Dane remains third overall, eight seconds behind the leading pair.
