Tour Stage 4 Report: After his second places on all the stages so far in the 2022 Tour de France, Wout van Aert attacked with just over 11 kilometres to go for a solo win in Calais. The yellow jersey held off the peloton as Jasper Philipsen won the bunch sprint ahead of Van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma teammate, Christophe Laporte.
The final K of stage 4
Wout van Aert won the fourth stage of the Tour de France. After three second places in the Danish stages, the Jumbo-Visma yellow jersey wearer hit the spot in the first stage on French soil. After his team split the race on the last climb, he rode solo to victory in Calais.
The 2022 Tour in France – Stage 4 start in Dunkerque
Tour boss, Christian Prudhomme: “Although the stage starts and finishes at sea level, the amount of climbing in between might well give the sprinters some cause for concern. The peloton will, for example, head towards the hills of West Flanders and then visit the Boulonnais hills. There’s likely to be lots of long-range attacks, especially in the final section along the coast that could well be windy: the climbs near the Cap Gris-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez headlands could prove decisive.”
Stage 2 profile
Happy 40th birthday for Philippe Gilbert
The start from the beach
After three days in Denmark and a rest day, the Tour continued in northwestern France with stage four between Dunkirk and Calais. The area is well known for the Four Days of Dunkirk, which has been won by Philippe Gilbert who turned 40 today. The route first went to Cassel, for the first climb of the day. This was followed by four more climbs towards the Opal Coast. Via the Côte du Cap Blanc-Nez at ten kilometres from the finish, the stage finished in Calais.
Another day in the Tour
Typical northern French village
The stage started with a moments silence in memory of the victims of the shooting in a shopping centre in Copenhagen. Several people were killed in the attack on Sunday. In the neutralised section Owain Doull crashed, but the EF Education-EasyPost rider was quickly back on the bike.
Yes, that man again – Magnus Cort with Anthony Perez for company
A taste of the cobbles in Cassel for Wout van Aert in the yellow jersey
Anthony Perez of Cofidis was the first attacker of the day and the Frenchman was joined by the KOM, Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost). The peloton gave its blessing to the couple, who took a 6 minute lead on the first climb of the day, the Côte de Cassel after 30.7 kilometres. Cort was first, defending his mountain jersey for another day. On the descent Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl accelerated and it looked like the Belgian team wanted to split the peloton.
A 6 minute lead for the break, but they would be caught before the finish
The work of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl and INEOS Grenadiers had an effect, as the peloton was in three parts. Mathieu van der Poel, Guillaume Martin and Thibaut Pinot were amongst the riders behind. After a short chase, they were able to return, but the tone was set. Due to the acceleration in the peloton, Perez and Cort’s lead had fallen to under 4 minutes. When calm had returned, the escapees were able to take more time.
The sprinter’s teams eventually started to chase
After 63.2 kilometres, Perez was the first to pass the intermediate sprint, ahead of Cort. Christophe Laporte started the sprint for Wout van Aert, but the yellow jersey couldn’t prevent Fabio Jakobsen from pushing his front wheel over the line just ahead of his. Behind them, Michael Mørkøv took some points away from Peter Sagan and Caleb Ewan. Jakobsen had caught up a little in the battle for the green jersey.
The flags were out for the Tour
Cort took the only mountain point ahead Perez on the second climb, the Côte de Remilly-Wirquin. Also on the third and fourth climb, the Côte de Nielles-lès-Bléquin and the Côte de Harlettes, the Dane was not under any pressure from the Frenchman. The peloton had meanwhile accelerated, so that the lead of the two slowly but surely started to shrink. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lotto Soudal and Trek-Segafredo, the teams of Jasper Philipsen, Caleb Ewan and Mads Pedersen, were starting to chase.
Cort made the most of his time out front, taking more KOM points before letting Perez go on solo
After 123 kilometres, Cort was first at the top of the fifth climb, the Côte du Ventus. The Dane then thought it was enough and left Perez to continued alone. At that time, the Frenchman was still 1:30 ahead of the big peloton, which was preparing for the last 40 kilometres. On the hilly roads back to the coast, the nervousness started to increase. Reaching Cap Gris-Nez, Perez was still out front into the last 25 kilometres along the English Channel to Calais.
The speed lifted in the final 30K
Big lead-out for van Aert’s attack from Benoot
Perez’ lead was only 30 seconds with 12 kilometres to go, INEOS Grenadiers suddenly came to the front. Jumbo-Visma took over the attack from the British formation on the last climb of the day, the Côte du Cap Blanc-Nez. Nathan Van Hooydonck and Tiesj Benoot initiated the acceleration and eventually Wout van Aert was launched. The yellow jersey wearer grabbed the only remaining mountain point and continued on solo. Behind him the peloton was split to pieces.
A bold attack from Wout van Aert with more than 10K to go
Solo to the finish for Van Aert
Van Aert held his lead in the last 10 kilometres and secured the victory after 171 kilometres. After three second places on the Danish stages, the Belgian took full advantage in the first stage on French soil. It was his sixth victory of the season on the road after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a stage win in Paris-Nice, the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and two stages in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Jasper Philipsen sprinted to second place, although he thought he had won the stage, Christophe Laporte finished third. Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan filled the top five.
Fourth time lucky for Wout
Not waiting for the sprint on stage 4
Stage winner and overall leader, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “I didn’t want to take the risk of losing anymore. It was quite obvious that we were trying something with the team. We were in a perfect position with Nathan [van Hooydonck] and Steven [Kruijswijk]. Nathan opened up. We heard through the radio that some damage was made, so I went full gas to see what would happen. I was a bit in doubt, if I had to wait for Jonas [Vingegaard] and [Adam] Yates but I went full gas so Jonas didn’t have to ride. In the last10km I went all out. This jersey gives wings. It was definitely a tough climb but this stage was very likely going to end up in bunch sprint, it was difficult to finish alone, but thanks to the work of my team-mates, I did it. It was up to me to finish it off.”
Sorry Jasper, but…
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Tour de France Stage 4 Result:
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma in 4:01:36
2. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck at 0:08
3. Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma
4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
5. Peter Sagan (Slk) TotalEnergies
6. Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-KTM
7. Danny van Poppel (Ned) BORA-hansgrohe
8. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
9. Michael Matthews (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
10. Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 4:
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma in 13:02:43
2. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl at 0:25
3. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 0:32
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo at 0:36
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck at 0:38
6. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma at 0:40
7. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma at 0:41
8. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:48
9. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ
10. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:49.
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