Arnaud Demare wins chaotic stage 4 – Tour de France.

Tour de France 2017

Stage 4

Arnaud Demare of FDJ was victorious at Stage 4 at the 2017 Tour de France on Tuesday as the grand tour reached Vittel.

Mark Cavendish was involved in a horrendous crash in the final moments as the sprint for the line gathered incredible pace.

Cavendish made contact with Peter Sagan as he pushed forward, and he dramatically flew into the barriers.

The incident led to Segan’s disqualification from the rest of the Tour de France, per the Guardian.

Geraint Thomas held on to the yellow jersey despite crashing and remounting.

Perfect conditions greeted the riders at the start, and the fine weather continued with the sprinters grateful and ready for action.

Guillaume Van Keirsbulck quickly left the peloton behind him as he made an early sprint, but the main pack decided to sit steady in their seats.

The Belgian opened a three-minute lead, but no one was tempted to push too hard in the opening stages.

Thomas was comfortably pulled along by Team Sky as they controlled the peloton in a patient bunch.

Chris Froome joined his team-mates in their relaxed approach, ready for the sprinting that lay ahead.

Van Keirsbulck increased his lead to six minutes at the halfway stage of the race, with the field planning its strategy.

The Col de Trois Fontaines Category 4 climb saw the leader’s advantage evaporate to just two minutes, and the race was suddenly on.

The fastest men positioned themselves in the closing stages as Dimension Data prepared Cavendish for a huge finish.

Van Keirsbulck’s charge was over, leaving the front to the serious sprinters in the pack.

Thomas tumbled in the peloton with a kilometre remaining but was soon back on his bike to grab a finishing time.

Demare secured the front spot as others trailed in his wake, but Sagan and Cavendish remained in contention.

The Brit made a final charge as he attempted to pass Sagan, but the pair made contact, leading to the end of the race for the Dimension Data man.

The incident allowed Demare to sprint away, and he captured the stage victory in the confusion.

Segan was later disqualified from the rest of the event as he was deemed responsible for Cavendish’s huge fall.


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