Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mads Pedersen last won a stage of the Tour in 2023
- Published30 minutes ago
Mads Pedersen sprinted clear from a breakaway to win the fourth stage of the Tour de France as defending champion Tadej Pogacar lost the yellow jersey and slipped to fourth.
Dane Pedersen timed his run for the line at the end of the 181.9km stage to perfection as temperatures reached 40C in southern France.
Uno-X Mobility rider Torstein Traeen is the new race leader after finishing eighth in the stage - almost 13 minutes ahead of the peloton.
Pedersen's Lidl-Trek team-mate Quinn Simmons was second on the road, with Movistar's Raul Garcia Pierna third.
Four-time champion Pogacar - who loses the yellow jersey after just one day for the third year in a row - was 33rd in the stage and trails the new leader by seven minutes 53 seconds.
Riders put blocks of ice down their tops as they battled the severe heat that has hit southern Europe this week.
The pack were allowed to carry bags of ice and water instead of individual bottles as an experiment.
Traeen - the third Norwegian to wear yellow - was treated for cancer in 2022, external.
More to follow.
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Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The peloton pass the spectacular Cité de Carcassonne, a famous medieval fortress at the start of stage four
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, 
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, 1 of 3
Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 3, The peloton pass the spectacular Cité de Carcassonne, a famous medieval fortress at the start of stage four, The peloton pass the spectacular Cité de Carcassonne, a famous medieval fortress at the start of stage fourEnd of image galleryTour de France stage four results
1. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) 4hrs 10mins 45secs
2. Quinn Simmons (US/Lidl-Trek) same time
3. Raul Garcia (Spa/Movistar)
4. Marco Frigo (It/NSN)
5. Ramses de Bruyne (Bel/Alpecin-Premier Tech)
6. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Ineos)
7. Sean Quinn (US/Easypost)
8. Torstein Traeen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)
9. Pablo Castrillo (Spa/Movistar)
10. Mathias Vacek (Cze/Lidl-Trek)
Tour de France general classification after stage four
1. Torstein Traeen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) 13hrs 2mins 36seconds
2. Sean Quinn (US/Easypost) +28secs
3. Mathias Vacek (Cze/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 50secs
4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7mins 53secs
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) same times
6. Ramses de Bruyne (Bel/Alpecin-Premier Tech) +8mins 6secs
7. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +8mins 16secs
8. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +8mins 17secs
9. Juan Ayuso (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +8mins 20secs
10. Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +8mins 41secs
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