Fernando Gaviria wins thrilling sprint to claim victory in stage four of Tour de France

Colombian rookie Fernando Gaviria won his second stage of the 2018 Tour de France with victory in a thrilling sprint finish in stage four on Tuesday.

The Quick-Step rider had just too much power for Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel, beating them out with one last surge in the closing metres as Mark Cavendish was again left shaking his fist in frustration.

Cavendish, looking to add to his 30 career Tour stage wins and chase down Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34, was well-placed with his Dimension Data team in the long straight to the finish line in Sarzeau on Brittany’s west coast.

But as had happened on the more technical finishes to the opening two stages, his lead-out train was split at the crucial moment and when he was pushed out of position by LottoNL-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen, his chance was gone.

That left Gaviria, the 23-year-old making his Tour debut this year, to put in another huge turn of power which proved too much for Sagan despite a late push.

“Everyone in Colombia is watching the Tour de France and I feel like my nation’s representative,” said Gaviria. “The team had to work really hard to catch the escape, nobody else was helping.”

BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet retained the yellow jersey by finishing in the front group – as did Team Sky’s Chris Froome and the rest of the GC contenders – to ensure status quo at the end of a 194km stage that passed largely without incident in the rolling countryside.

Gaviria’s compatriot Rigoberto Uran almost lost time after being caught in a late crash around 5km from the finish, but he was paced back to the main group by his EF Education First-Drapac team to stay 10th, 35 seconds behind Van Avermaet. Froome remains 55 seconds back with team-mate Geraint Thomas third, just three seconds adrift.

The stage, which began in the coastal town of La Baule, saw the quartet of Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty), Jérôme Cousin (Direct Energie) and the Cofidis pair of Dimitri Claeys and Anthony Perez immediately launch a break that was allowed to hold.

At one point, the quartet were eight minutes clear of the peloton and they maintained their lead for more than 190km before finally being caught in the closing stages as the pack combined to reel them in.

Stage Four

1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 04:25:01
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
3 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
4 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
5 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
6 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
7 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
8 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
9 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
10 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

General Classification

1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 13:33:56
2 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky +3s
4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors +5s
5 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors +7s
6 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
7 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb +11s
8 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
9 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale +35s

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17 Chris Froome (Gbr) Team Sky +55s

(c) Sky News 2018: Fernando Gaviria wins thrilling sprint to claim victory in stage four of Tour de France