Hushovd: Ahead Of The Rest

The 193km fourth stage of the 2007 Tour de France – from Viller-Cotteret to Joigny – began at 1.00pm. There were 187 riders at the sign on with no overnight retirements. The day included four cat-4 climbs, they were: Cote de Veuilly-la-Poterie (at 23.5km), the Cote de Doucy (at 62.5km), the Cote de Galbaux (at 144km) and the Cote de Bel-Air (at 148.5km). The three intermediate sprints were evenly dispersed throughout the stage: the first in La Ferte-Gaucher (at 69km) the next in Soligny-les-Bains (at 122.5km) and the final one in Theil-sur-Vanne (at 158.5km). _ _ Zandio Crashes & Abandons _ There were no early attacks in the stage. The first bout of action came at the first climb when three of the eight riders with points for the polka-dot jersey raced ahead of the peloton. The points at Veuilly-la-Poterie climb were won by Kuschynski (LIQ), Millar (SDV) and Auge (COF) 1pt. Di Gregorio (FDJ) and Zandio (GCE) crashed heavily; the Spaniard broke his right collarbone and abandoned the race while the Frenchman continued but received treatment from the race doctor numerous times during the stage. _ _ Sprick Sparks Escape _ Sprick (BTL) was the first to launch a serious attack. It happened at the 30.5km mark. He was chased by Verdugo (EUS), Flecha (RAB), Chavanel (FDJ) and, 3km later, by Knees (MRM). At the 40km mark, the advantage of the five escapees was 1’25”. The average speed for the first hour was 40.7km/h. At 48km the lead was 3’20” and then the peloton increased its pace to keep the escape within a reasonable distance. At 56km, the advantage had grown to 3’45”. Chavanel was the best-place on GC at the start of the day, 23rd overall, 56” behind Cancellara. At the 2nd climb the peloton was 4’00” behind ;his was the maximum gain of the escape. Liquigas came at the 62km mark and split the peloton. Flecha, Chavanel and Sprick took the sprint points at the 69km mark; CSC was back in charge of the bunch and had reduced the lead significantly to just 1’55”. The average speed for the 2nd hour was 40.7km/h. _ _ CSC Defend Cancellara’s Lead _ With 100km to go, the advantage was back to 3’45”. Flecha led Chavanel and Knees to the line for the second intermediate sprint. The average speed for the 3rd hour was 42.2km/h. The sprint teams – Predictor, Quickstep and Lampre – joined CSC at the head of the peloton with 70km to go and the lead diminished rapidly: 2’45” with 67km to go; 2’00” with 60km to go. At the third climb Chavanel led Knees and Flecha to the top. The peloton was at 1’40”. The order over the fourth climb was: Knees, Sprick and Chavanel… the peloton was 1’50” behind. _ Flecha led Chavanel and Verdugo over the line for the first intermediate sprint. The peloton was just 1’35” behind. With 25km to go, the five led by 55”. Knees attacked with 24km to go he was reeled in and the five cooperated again and it wouldn’t be until 8km to go that there was another attack: the peloton was just 30” behind and Sprick tried his luck… it was a surge that lasted about 20 seconds and then he surrendered. The escape was over 4.8km from the finish. _ _ Setting Up The Sprint _ Quickstep and T-Mobile dominated the head of the peloton in the closing kilometers. It was Credit Agricole, however, that rode the perfect finale. Thor Hushovd calls Julian Dean "the best lead-out man in the world" and the New Zealander delivered the Norwegian to the 300m to go mark and that's when Hushovd bolted into the lead. He was never truly challenged although Hunter (BAR) didn't give in until the very end. It is Hushovd's fifth victory in the Tour de France. _ Fabian Cancellara finished 47th with the same time as Hushovd. The CSC rider will wear the yellow jersey for stage five.