Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jasper Stuyven were among the many riders who animated the day.
The Tour de France continued under the scorching heat with a stage that screamed breakaway. The peloton was in Cathar territory Tuesday afternoon, when they left behind Carcassonne - home to one of the most stunning medieval citadels in Europe - and made their way to Foix, where at all previous five visits the stage win went to a rider that featured in the breakaway.
A hilly parcours, containing two classified climbs, was on the menu of this fourth stage, which used some of the roads that more than two decades ago featured at the Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon. As expected, the speed was high from the beginning, because most of the teams were keen on placing at least one rider in the front group, which ended up numbering 34 men, including Soudal Quick-Step’s Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jasper Stuyven. The duo brought their fair share of work, helping the breakaway establish a nine-minute gap on the peloton, but despite their best efforts, the final climb proved too much once the attacks started on those ramps which averaged more than 6%.
Jasper concluded the day not far from the top ten of this stage, while Ilan Van Wilder came home with the bunch, who arrived more than 12 minutes later and remained our team’s best-placed rider in the general classification.
“It was a good opportunity for the breakaway and we were there with two riders, but we weren’t the only team to have multiple men there. We did a good job, but it was a hard day and we went really deep, and the final ascent was just a bit too much for me, as I suffered there due to the heat. On Wednesday it will be our first big opportunity; it’s going to be a good chance for Tim and we’ll do everything we can to help him fight for the stage win”, Jasper said at the finish in Foix.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
