Marcel Kittel emerged victorious, after winning a hotly contested sprint finale that ended in Lille, France today.
The German powerhouse managed to edge out Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr), to claim his third stage victory in this year’s Tour.
Meanwhile, Vincenzo Nibali finished safely in the peloton, to maintain his grip on the overall race lead.
Unfortunately for the defending champion, Chris Froome, today’s stage did not go so well for him. The British rider was involved in a crash just after the start of the race, which resulted in a number of cuts and abrasions.
Froome was able to remount and finish the race, albeit with his left wrist in some kind of a harness of sorts.
As for Kittel, the German rider is well on his way to equalling, if not surpassing, his record of four wins in last year’s Tour.
Stage 4 Results GER 1 KITTEL, Marcel (GIANT-SHIMANO) 3:36:39 NOR 2 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) FRA 3 DEMARE, Arnaud (FDJ.fr) SVK 4 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE) FRA 5 COQUARD, Bryan (EUROPCAR) GER 6 GREIPEL, André (LOTTO BELISOL) AUS 7 RENSHAW, Mark (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) NED 8 VAN POPPEL, Danny (TREK FACTORY RACING) ITA 9 CIMOLAI, Davide (LAMPRE – MERIDA) ITA 10 OSS, Daniel (BMC RACING) AUS 11 HAUSSLER, Heinrich (IAM CYCLING) SUI 12 ALBASINI, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) FRA 13 DUMOULIN, Samuel (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 14 FEILLU, Romain (BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) BEL 15 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) AUS 16 DEMPSTER, Zakkari (NETAPP – ENDURA) ITA 17 VIVIANI, Elia (CANNONDALE) ESP 18 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) BEL 19 KEUKELEIRE, Jens (ORICA GreenEDGE) ESP 20 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) POL 21 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) FRA 22 PETIT, Adrien (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) DEN 23 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA) ITA 24 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) BEL 25 VAN SUMMEREN, Johan (GARMIN SHARP)
General Classification after Stage 4 ITA 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) 17:07:52 SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE) + 2 SUI 3 ALBASINI, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) BEL 4 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) ESP 5 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) ESP 6 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) BEL 8 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) NED 9 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) DEN 10 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA)
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