Elia Viviani nets his first ever Tour de France win in stage four sprint
The Italian followed his lead out for success in France


The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) won stage four of the 2019 Tour de France in a tight sprint finish where lead out trains negotiated narrow and furniture-littered streets following a traditional breakaway chase for much of the stage.
The Italian proved himself to be the smartest and the fastest in the final metres, edging Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) into second with Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) third.
Points jersey leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) just missed out on the podium in fourth, whilst arguably disorganisation in the Team Jumbo-Visma camp meant Dylan Groenewegen came fifth and Mike Teunissen sixth.
It was a good day for Deceuninck-Quick-Step, with Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe maintaining his place at the top of the general classification, which saw no change from the previous day.
How it happened
The 213.5 kilometre stage from Reims to Nancy opened with a relatively flat first 100 kilometres, with wide roads almost designed to lure a breakaway. However, two categorised climbs, including the Côte de Maron 15 km ahead of the finish waited, keen to disrupt their rhythm, before a flat 1.5km to the finish.
The three escapees played their hand early on, with Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team fielding Yoann Offredo and Frederik Backaert into the break, to be joined by Michael Schär (CCC).
The trio had built up an impressive gap of three minutes with 201 kilometres remaining to race, however, this distance held steady for some time as teams controlled the pace.
The gap hovered at a consistent three minutes with little alarm emerging in the peloton.
With 118km to go, a crash took down Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale), plus Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Serge Pauwels (CCC), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale), Joey Rosskopf (CCC), Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) and Christophe Laporte (Confidis).
All of the fallen riders remounted to continue, the peloton trailing its escapees by 3-10 with 100km to go.
Summiting the Côte des Rosieres with 92km left to the line, Schär accelerated to hoover up the mountain points, whilst behind Lotto-Soudal, Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Jumbo-Visma pulled the peloton along. The gap had increased marginally, though, to 3-26.
Reaching the intermediate sprint with 65 kilometres to go, it was the CCC rider who won the lions share of the points, ahead of Offredo and Backaert. However, the peloton had begun to gather steam, the gap dropping into the region of two minutes with 70km left, and 1-19 come the 56km mark, where Backaert won the next intermediate sprint, though Peter Sagan still topped the tables in the green jersey competition.
In the peloton, a crash brought down EF Education First's Michael Woods, but he sustained minimal damage and was soon back chasing at the 52km mark. With the distance left to race down to 45km, the break's advantage had sunk below the minute mark, to 54s whilst the average speed of the peloton hovered at 40.5kph.
With around 15 km to go before the final climb of the day - the Côte de Maron - Schär attacked his breakaway companions, having remained largely the dominant force of the three from the start. His surge in pace distanced Offredo whilst Backaert hung tight to Schär's wheel.
The flurry of activity increased the sinking gap by nine seconds, but the clock still sat at 47s with 27km left, reducing to 26s come the 20km mark as Jumbo-Visma drove the pace behind.
Onto the slopes of the Côte de Maron, a 2.9km ascent at 5.1 per cent, Schär accelerated again, leaving Backaert behind to drift back to the peloton like his Wanty team mate. It wasn't far to go, though, with the bunch only 15s adrift. The final catch was made soon after, at the 16km mark - a train of red and black Sunweb riders completing the junction.
Taking his chances, Lilian Calmejane (Total Direct Energie) put in a surge to escape from the bunch, but it wasn't to be his day on the top spot. He was allowed to pedal out front alone for 4km, until the 6km to go mark.
A large roundabout with 2km to go forced lead out trains to work hard, but the peloton made it safely around. Coming into the finish, all of the fast men had well organised trains, and it was Viviani who crossed the line first, with Kristoff second and Ewan taking the third place.
Bizarrely, Dylan Groenewegen became detached from expected lead out man, Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), with the pair taking fifth and sixth behind Peter Sagan.
Results
Tour de France 2019, stage four: Reims to Nancy (213.5km)
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 5-09-20
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
3 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
6 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
10 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits, at same time
General Classification after stage four
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 14-41-39
2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma at 20s
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma at 25s
4 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma, at same time
5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb at 40s
6 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos, at same time
7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos at 45s
8 Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck-Quick-Step at 46s
9 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team at 51s
10 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at same time
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Michelle Arthurs-Brennan is a traditional journalist by trade, having begun her career working for a local newspaper, where highlights included interviewing a very irate Freddie Star (and an even more irate theatre owner), as well as 'the one about the stolen chickens'.
Previous to joining the Cycling Weekly team, Michelle was Editor at Total Women's Cycling. She joined CW as an 'SEO Analyst', but couldn't keep her nose out of journalism and in the spreadsheets, eventually taking on the role of Tech Editor before her latest appointment as Digital Editor.
Michelle is a road racer who also enjoys track riding and the occasional time trial, though dabbles in off-road riding too (either on a mountain bike, or a 'gravel bike'). She is passionate about supporting grassroots women's racing and founded the women's road race team 1904rt.
-
-
Back from bankruptcy, Mavic opens new facility in Vermont, teases new product
In addition to re-establishing sales in North America, the historic brand will release new wheels in the coming months
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Neilson Powless on Saving Road Racing in America, Polka Dots and Parenthood
American Neilson Powless talks us through his 2023 Tour de France, preparing for parenthood and his goals for next season and beyond
By Tyler Boucher Published
-
GB's Neah Evans claims stunning first world title on final day of Track World Championships
Great Britain finishes with 10 medals, after Madison silver and elimination race bronze
By Tom Davidson Last updated
-
Mark Cavendish wants to continue for 'at least' two more years
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter turns 37 this weekend
By Adam Becket Published
-
Elia Viviani outsprints the pack in wind-blown stage one of Tour de la Provence
The Ineos Grenadiers rider took his first victory since returning to the team
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Fabio Jakobsen on aiming for the Tour de France, lawsuit against Groenewegen and supporting Cavendish
The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider showed he is back to being one of the fastest sprinters around at the Vuelta a España
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Last updated
-
'My head was filled with doubts and insecurities but I'm ready to win sprints again': says Elia Viviani as he re-joins Ineos in 2022
The former Italian champion and Olympic gold medallist is confident he can get back to the top of sprinting
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-
'I don’t want to end my time with the regret of not ever trying': Julian Alaphilippe wants to try and win Tour de France before retiring
The double world champion will focus on the Classics in 2022 but still has an eye on the French Grand Tour
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-
Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel share their thoughts ahead of Il Lombardia 2021
The two Deceuninck - Quick-Step riders come into the final Monument of the year as two of the main favourites
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-
Julian Alaphilippe says losing the rainbow jersey would have been 'a certain form of relief'
The French star stormed to an amazing second world title in a row on the roads of Leuven
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published