Key Takeaways: Tour de France Stage 4

Breaking down what we learned on an explosive early stage at the 2025 Tour de France

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After ripping through the short, steep climbs of Normandy along the Northern coast of France, Tadej Pogačar outsprinted his Classics rival Mathieu van der Poel and General Classification rival Jonas Vingegaard with a staggering burst of speed to get his 100th career professional victory in the picturesque streets of Rouen. While the win allowed Pogačar to continue to extend his overall lead over his GC rivals, viewers would have been forgiven for thinking they were watching the finale of a punchy one-day Classic, with riders unable to respond to the explosive efforts dispatched off the back of the elite front group. If Pogačar left little doubt about his supremacy at this race and his eventual taking of the overall race lead, resistance wasn’t entirely futile on the day, with Jonas Vingegaard minimizing his losses by narrowly avoiding being dropped on the ultra-steep pitches of the final climb, and Van der Poel hanging on to the Yellow Jersey despite his lead over Pogačar being shaved down to nothing, remaining in the lead for one more day due to a countback of stage finish placings.

Stage Top Five:
1) Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates XRG) +0
2) Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) +0
3) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) + 0
4) Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +0
5) Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) +0

Current GC Top Five:
1) Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) +0
2) Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates XRG) +0
3) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) +8
4) Matteo Jorgenson (Visma–Lease a Bike) +19
5) Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +26

Select GC Standings After Stage 4:
Pogacar +0
Vingegaard -8
Jorgenson -19
Vauquelin -26
Mas -48
Onley -55
Almeida -55
Evenepoel -58
Skjelmose -1’02
T.Johannessen -1’17
Roglic -1’27
Lipowitz -1’49
Ca.Rodriguez -2’05

Stage 4 Race Notebook

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27.5km: After a low-key opening 150 kilometers of racing, UAE hits the front and significantly increases the pace as they hit the first of four climbs slammed inside the final 30 kilometers.

13km: As they approach the penultimate climb, UAE is still on the front, with multiple extremely strong riders still in reserve. The race leader, Mathieu van der Poel, is holding just a few spots behind, even as some GC contenders, like Ben O’Connor, are dropped due to the extremely fast pace.

8km: Visma takes over on the front with Victor Campanaerts setting an extremely hard pace. While impressive, it is allowing Pogačar to sit in and benefit from the pace while conserving his remaining teammates.

5.5km: Once they get to the steep final climb, Pogačar has Jhonatan Narváez (who has been sitting in the wheels thanks to Visma) to wind up the pace to an infernal level on the front before he attacks. This creates instant separation, with only Vingegaard able to follow.

5.4km: The gap between Vingegaard/Pogačar and the rest is immediately made clear as they pull out a massive gap over Van der Poel, Jorgenson, and Evenepoel in only a few moments.

5.3km: Soon after, even Vingegaard is dropped as Pogačar appears to ride clear.

5.2km: But, as quickly as he was dropped, Vingegaard, perhaps realizing they are so far ahead of the others that there is no one to help him pace on the descent, digs deep and comes back to reel in Pogaćar by the summit.

4.3km: Once over the climb, Vingegaard interestingly comes through to work with Pogačar, which he hasn’t in years past, as Evenepoel puts in a massive dig behind to pull the chase group back.

900m: When the contact is eventually made, Visma’s Jorgenson attacks in an attempt to clip off the front for the stage win. However, UAE’s João Almeida quickly gets to the front to chase him down, forcing Evenepoel to maintain a high pace, which allows Pogačar to sit back on the wheel of the rider he knows is the only other one who can contest the stage win, Mathieu van der Poel.

200m: After Almeida reels in Jorgenson, he keeps the pace high to act as a leadout for Pogačar. Van der Poel almost appears to panic slightly and opens his sprint early, while Pogačar sits on his wheel.

Finish: As Van der Poel fades after nearly 15 seconds of uphill sprint, Pogačar calmly and clinically comes around just in time for the stage win, and his 100th career professional victory, as Vingegaard gets an impressive third and Evenepoel is gapped off the back slightly, losing a small chunk of time.

Three Key Stage Takeaways