After 169.2 kilometres between Sort and Lleida, the sprinters had the upper hand on stage 4 of the Tour of Catalonia. Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost) had the fastest legs in the end, taking his fourth victory as a professional. Arne Marit (Intermarche-Wanty) finished second behind the 24-year-old Dutchman, with third place going to Emils Liepins (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL).
Marijn van den Berg uses Bryan Coquard as a springboard
Van den Berg had sought out the rear wheel of Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) on the slightly uphill finishing straight. The EF pro passed him 75 metres before the finish and maintained his narrow lead to the finish.
It was very hectic with all the roundabouts in the finale. I knew that Bryan Coquard is a very fast rider. I looked for his rear wheel and took off from there in the final metres - Marijn van den Berg in the winner's interview about the finish sprint
Tour of Catalonia 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 4
- Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost) 3:40:19
- Arne Marit (Intermarche-Wanty) +0:00
- Emils Liepins (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
- Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +0:00
- Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Cyril Barthe (Groupama-FDJ) +0:00
- Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:00
- Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:00
- Orluis Aular (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) +0:00
- Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
In the overall standings, there was only one shift in the top 10, with Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) making up one position.
The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 17:18:31
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +2:27
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:55
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) +3:21
- Chris Harper (Team Jayco-AlUla) +3:22
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +3:27
- Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +3:31
- Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) +3:32
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +3:50
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +3:52
This is how the 4th stage of the Tour of Catalonia 2024 went
There were two tasks before the start of the fourth stage: Jose Manuel Diaz (Burgos-BH) and Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkea-B&B Hotels) did not start the race. Shortly after the race started, they attacked. Thomas De Gent (Lotto-Dstny), Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Idar Andersen (Uno-X Mobility) made their escape. In the peloton, the teams of the few sprinters did the chasing and gave the trio a maximum lead of around 3:30 minutes. At the front, Berrade was the first rider to drop back around 55 kilometres before the finish.
Runaways have no chance against sprinter teams
Under the pace dictation of Intermarche-Wanty, EF Education EasyPost, Cofidis and Alpecin-Deceuninck, the lead of De Gendt and Andersen quickly melted away as they headed towards the finale. On a large and wide road, the duo had no chance against the chasing peloton and dropped back. They were caught 29 kilometres before the finish.
Shortly afterwards, the intermediate sprint took place, where Wout Poels secured three seconds time credit and thus overtook Sepp Kuss in 7th place in the overall standings. Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took advantage of the short lull in the peloton after the sprint to break away. However, the 39-year-old Spaniard's attempt was futile - the peloton caught up with him eight kilometres before the finish.
Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas set the pace
In the final three kilometres, the two former Tour de France winners Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas rode in front of the peloton for Ineos Grenadiers to prepare the ground for their sprinter Ethan Hayter. But he didn't play a role in the end. Around 200 metres before the finish, Bryan Coquard opened the sprint. Too early, as it turned out. The wiry Frenchman's legs fell asleep on the slightly uphill finishing straight, Marijn van den Berg shot past and could no longer be caught.
The Tour of Catalonia 2024 continues on Friday with stage 5. If the race goes well, the sprinters could once again have a chance of winning the stage. However, there are two difficult 2nd category climbs in the way.
