Tour de France 2025 Stage Four was, until the last five kilometers, more poetic than eventful. The 181 remaining riders rolled into the Normandy town of Rouen, with no serious crashes impacting today’s action.
This was all to change, with a breathtaking race to the line, won by overall favorite, Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian saw off a stiff combined challenge from rival Jonas Vingegaard, as well as race leader Matthieu van de Poel. The latter retains the maillot jaune, but is not expected to keep it for long.
Four riders have won five Tours de France, although a certain Texan had, for a while, blown that one out of the water. Back where they belong, the legendary big four include local man Jacques Anquetil. The Norman pro was the first man to win five, and in his honor, the race today ascended the Côte Jacques Anquetil for the first time.
In 1957, Anquetil, the first great legend of the peloton, won his inaugural stage in today’s destination town, Rouen. That was to be a springboard for outright victory the same year, as well as in four races to follow. In 1969, he moved into a chateau built by the grandfather of the French writer, Guy de Maupassant.
The stage also climbed the Côte de Bonsecours, named so to commemorate the achievements of the Frenchman Jean Robic, who won the race on the last day in 1947. He hadn’t put the yellow jersey on at all before that exciting finish in Paris, coming from almost nowhere to overturn a notable deficit to Italy’s Pierre Brambilla.
A sporting event that lasts three weeks also has to have room for romance and sentimentality. This is no more in evidence than when the peloton stops to pay tribute to great riders of the past, none more than Fabio Casartelli. He was an Italian Olympic champion who lost his life on a Pyrenean descent down the Col de Portet d’Aspet in 1995.
Crashes of such a serious nature are fortunately infrequent, although the race has already lost one of its stars, who came off yesterday, Jasper Philipsen. His team led a lot of the stage today as a tribute to him, but were not involved in the breakaway group, which took to the front early in the day.
Breakaways are common in the Tour de France, with the leading group typically being chased down by the peloton towards the finish. Some teams urge their riders to go for a stage win, while others are happy for the added exposure in this highly sponsored event. Riders with no chance of outright victory see a stage win as their chance to shine. This, as a result, means that the majority of stages involve a smaller group riding alone for some distance.
Today’s breakaway was caught towards 15 km from the finish. Apart from a few riders picking up extra points for both green and polka dot jerseys, their heroics had no bearing on the final placings.
It was interesting to see the way that teams deal with mishaps and how they work together for their team leaders. At one point, crowd favorite Julian Alaphilippe crashed and was guided back to the main bunch by one of his domestiques (support rider). Another two cyclists swapped bikes after one of them had a puncture.
Other weaker competitors were dropped and will, in most cases, be disappointed that this happened on a hilly course, rather than a mountainous one. Among them, Englishman Adam Yates, a promising talent who will already think he could have done better.
Cyclists higher up the general classification rarely enter breakaway groups, and if they do, find themselves chased down by their rivals and their teams.
All until they get to the mountain stages, where breakaways tend to come from pros chasing a podium finish in Paris. By then, the only ones who can keep up with them, if any can, are the other elite riders. More of that next week.
I saw Bernard Hinault win the Tour de France in 1985, the fifth overall French win in a row, part of a decade in which the host country won eight from ten. You could have been forgiven for thinking that the French owned their own race back then. They certainly bossed it.
Since that day, no French rider has won this event. Even the English are wondering when they’re going to sort it out. They haven’t come close since 1986, when American Greg LeMond just nabbed it from the late Laurent Fignon on the final time trial into Paris.
Second-place finishes have been occasional enough, but in each case, the riders have placed too far back to have been serious contenders.
Forty years is just so long. Only, as things stand right now, they’ve got a very long way to go if they want to compete with the current bosses of Le Tour.
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