'I've never won a sprint before, so that's kinda good' – Quinn Simmons escapes to victory on stage 4 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as breakaway makes it
The peloton closed in on the escapees in final kilometre, but couldn't pull it back
Quinn Simmons charged to victory from the breakaway on stage four of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as the peloton ran out of road on Wednesday.
The Lidl-Trek rider was part of a 10-man group which made it to the finish in Montrond-les-Bains, metres ahead of the on-rushing peloton. After Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) kept the break's hopes alive with a powerful turn, Simmons opened up the sprint, holding off Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).
Speeds reached 70kph in the closing two kilometres, as the wind pushed the riders along. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the sprint for 11th place from the bunch, as they miscalculated catching the break. Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) finished in the peloton to remain in the yellow jersey of race leader.
It was the third-fastest stage in Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes history, races at an average of 46.9kph across its 167.4km. Wednesday was Simmons's first victory of 2026, and his first since stage three of the Tour de Suisse last year, also won from the breakaway, although that was solo. The 25-year-old was one of the stars of last year's Tour de France, in the break on four stages, including to Vire Normandie on stage six, when he finished second. Fans can therefore be reassured that he is back in form ahead of July's big race.
"Behind the Tour, this is the biggest stage race of the year for us, so to come here and to take a stage here... It's been a year since I put my hands in the air, so it's pretty special," Simmons said in his TV interview post-stage.
"The biggest six weeks of our season is right now, so to have a confirmation that the form is there is really nice, and I hope I can keep going like this."
"Two days ago I thought I could win a stage, but we needed to save the legs for the team time trial, so today I was finally unleashed, and I wanted to get the job done," he continued. "I was a bit scared when they only gave us two minutes, I was hoping for a bit more, but in the end, it plays to my favour when the break has to ride hard the whole way. If we have to play games in the final, for sure I would be marked, so like this, you can just go. I've never won a sprint before, so that's kinda good.
"The Tour is the biggest goal for everyone, it's easy to say that, and I was quite sure I was going to be there, but you have to show your form. Yesterday and today I showed that, so I'd say hopefully I'm there in July."
The day was dictated by a large breakaway which formed around 90km to go from the finish, on the category-two climb of the Côte de Chougoirand, after 70km of fierce racing to get into the big move.
There were 12 riders up the road: Simmons, Sam Watson (Netcompany Ineos), Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility), Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar), Lars Craps (Lotto Intermarché), Jordan Jegat and Vercher (both Total Energies), Jon Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and George Bennett and Marco Frigo (both NSN Cycling).
Watson left the move after crashing heavily with 39km to go, with Bennett moving back to the peloton shortly after.
They were only allowed a maximum of around two minutes on the peloton, with teams behind hoping to control the race for a bunch sprint, chief among them Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis.
As the gap tumbled in the final kilometres, the chance of victory swung between the bunch and the riders up the road, with it hovering just under 10 seconds under the flamme rouge. However, due to a powerful final turn from Castrillo and some inspired sprinting, the break won the day.
Results
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026, stage 4: Le Puy-en-Velay > Montrond-les-Bains (167.4km)
1. Quinn Simmons (USA) Lidl-Trek, in 3:34:08
2. Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Mattéo Vercher (Fra) TotalEnergies
4. Marco Frigo (Ita) NSN Cycling
5. Raúl García Pierna (Esp) Movistar
6. Andreas Kron (Den) Uno-X Mobility
7. Jorgan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies
8. Lars Craps (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
9. Jan Castellon (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, all at same time
10. Pablo Castrillo (Esp) Movistar, +4s
General Classification after stage 4
1. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, in 13:35:13
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos, +12s
3. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Netcompany-Ineos, at same time
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +15s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +47s
6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +47s
7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50s
8. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Netcompany-Ineos, +57s
9. Léo Bisiaux (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +59s
10. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +1:00
