Stage 4 TDF 2023 Blog: Another Sprint, Same Result

Stage 4 finished on the Nogaro motor racing circuit, which was the scene of a bunch sprint.

The result was much the same as yesterday, with Mathieu van der Poel the MVP for Alpecin Deceuninck. He delivered Jasper Philipsen to pole position for the win, and Philipsen duly crossed the line ahead of Caleb Ewan.

The circuit was expected to be safe as houses, with its width and sweeping curves. In fact the bends were tighter than I anticipated, and certainly tighter than David Millar anticipated in commentary: ‘I’d say it’s incredibly safe…a sprinter’s team’s dream’.

It may have been tighter than the riders anticipated too. There were several crashes.

Fabio Jakobsen was one of the fallers.

Video Highlights

The Break

There was a doomed breakaway of two riders – Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa) and Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R).

There should be a rule that no rider with a circumflex in his name should be in a break, or do anything noteworthy in the race. I can’t manage a circumflex here. I’ll have to let Benoit off this time, but let this be a warning.

Cosnefroy did some larking around with the camera motorbike. I guess that’s a strong point of the Tour de France: it’s not always intense, there is some semi-down time.