Tadej Pogacar masterclass enhances Tour de France favourite tag
The Slovenian, aiming for a fourth Tour win this year, outkicked race leader Mathieu van der Poel on a punchy finish into Rouen to go level with the Dutch rider in the general classification.
After some initial confusion as to who would be awarded the yellow jersey, race organisers confirmed that Van der Poel would keep it for Wednesday's time trial at least.
That will hardly matter to Pogacar, who continues to sweep all before him. For many the Slovenian is already the greatest cyclist of all time. He certainly rivals the great Eddy Merckx, his versatility and virtuosity making him a threat over virtually any terrain, and in a far more professional era.
This was the 100th professional win of Pogacar's career. It was also his 18th stage victory at the Tour de France, meaning he is over halfway to Sir Mark Cavendish's all-time Tour stage record at just 26 years of age. Pogacar has also won the Giro d'Italia, countless one-day classics, and is the reigning world road race champion.
In fact, he hinted afterwards that he engineered his loss of the polka dot jersey to UAE Team Emirates team-mate Tim Wellens into Dunkirk on Monday, just so he could win Stage 4 into Rouen wearing the rainbow stripes.
Ironically, he won the polka dot jersey back with his attack on the final climb into Rouen, so he will have to ride in that in Wednesday's time trial in Caen. He even wins jerseys when he does not want to.
Pogacar's attack in the final 5km shredded the peloton, with only two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike), his only realistic rival for yellow this year, able to stay with him over the top.
They allowed a select group to get back to them, which included Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Oscar Onley (Pcnic PostNL). But they were all on the limit, and after a strong leadout from João Almeida, Pogacar was able to surge past Van der Poel before the line.
'I think everyone was at the limit,' Pogacar said afterwards. 'I tried an attack at the last climb, Jonas followed me, then everything came together. João did such an amazing job to lead me out to the end. I'm super happy and proud of the team today. It was such a nice victory.
'To win at the Tour is incredible, in this jersey even more. And to have 100 victories is amazing, yeah.
'With so many good riders in the final, in such a final, you're always a bit on the edge. You know never until the final, when you get this adrenaline. It's pure racing. I enjoy it.'
Asked about his chances of going into yellow in Wednesday's 33km time trial, Pogacar added: 'We'll see tomorrow. Tomorrow's the real test. But just to win a stage in this jersey is amazing.'
'I was completely dead to be honest'
Vingegaard ended up third just ahead of British rider Onley and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ).
Evenepoel, after a fall on Monday, was seventh, three seconds back on Almeida in sixth which means he lost some time on GC. Two-time world champion Evenepoel is now almost a minute back on Pogacar overall.
Onley, a 22 year-old from Kelso, said he was proud of himself to have finished in such exalted company.
'It's nice to prove to myself that I can be there,' he said, adding he had no chance of competing for the stage win. 'I was completely dead to be honest. When it's fast and flat like that, I'm never going to stay away, especially when there are riders like [Matteo] Jorgensen and Almeida, great riders in their own like, doing jobs for their leaders.'
Everyone has to bow before Pogacar at the moment. The only question is whether he is expending too much energy too early in the race, but he seems to make his own rules at the moment.
The Slovenian is the fourth quickest rider ever to reach 100 professional wins. The man he bumped down to fifth? Cavendish. If he stays fit, few would bet against him one day breaking the Manxman's all-time Tour record too.
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