Tadej pogacar won the 4th stage of the 2025 Tour de France this Tuesday in Rouen, also securing the 100th victory of his professional career. The Slovenian world champion won in a sprint ahead of Mathieu Van der Poel, after a nervous and spectacular finale, marked by a series of attacks on the last climbs before the finish. While Van der Poel retained the yellow jersey thanks to the tiebreaker criteria, Pogacar showed him that he will be a force to be reckoned with every day of this Grand Boucle.
A tense race from the final kilometers
Controlled for a long time by the peloton, the stage came to life in the final 20 kilometers. The UAE-Emirates team, well organized around Pogacar, accelerated as they approached the Côte de Bonsecours, setting a high tempo that immediately thinned out the peloton. On the Saint-Hilaire ramp, Pogacar launched a sharp attack 250 meters from the summit. Only Jonas Vingegaard was able to catch his wheel, with a violent effort. The Dane, who did not relay his Slovenian rival on the descent, thus helped the group of favorites to return as they approached the flamme rouge.
In the final sprint, Pogacar, led by Joao Almeida, overtook an exhausted Van der Poel, who had launched his effort too early. Despite this defeat at the finish line, the Dutchman retained his yellow jersey, with the two men tied for the same time in the general classification. Jonas Vingegaard completed the stage podium, still as solid in the high-intensity phases, but lacking any offensive initiative in the finale.
The French are there
Romain Grégoire delivered a solid performance, finishing fifth, the best Frenchman of the day. The young Groupama-FDJ rider expressed his satisfaction after the finish, highlighting the difficulty of the stage and his pleasure at being at this level. Kevin Vauquelin, meanwhile, finished tenth, confirming his strong start to the Tour.
Among the contenders for the general classification, Remco Evenepoel had a more complicated day. The Belgian, poorly positioned at the start of the sprint, was caught out by a break and lost a few more seconds, in addition to the bonuses gained by his rivals.
Next step to follow tomorrow in a 33km time trial in Caen…
