“I couldn’t imagine this as a boy,” Viviani said after the stage. “First I thought about a Giro win, then I had a Vuelta win and now the Tour de France. It was the only win I was missing, so this was the big goal of the season. I’m really happy, I’m emotional. All the work you do always pays off with one win like that one. I feel at the top now.
“At the moment we are just thinking about defending the yellow jersey with Julian Alaphilippe. He worked so much for me and now I want to help him keep it. Stage six will be hard to get over, but seven is a chance for me. But these two days are amazing for the team.”
Peter Sagan admitted his sprint may have suffered after the efforts he put in the stage the day before. There is one guy, however, who wasn’t in the running at all. Dylan Groenewegen missed out once again. Stage one was a disaster for him and stage four wasn’t much better. Groenewegen might very well be the fastest man in the world, but so far at the Tour, it doesn’t show. Is it his teammates’ mistake? Will he get better? Let us know what you think!
Stage 4 results: Reims to Nancy (213.5km)
1 Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) – 5:09:20
2 Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates)
3 Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal)
4 Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
5 Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jumbo-Visma)
6 Mike Teunissen (Team Jumbo-Visma)
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data)
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9 Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb)
10 Christophe Laporte (Cofidis Solutions Credits)
General Classification after stage four
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) – 14:41:39
2 Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) + 20s
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) + 25s
4 George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma)
5 Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) + 40s
6 Egan Bernal (Team Ineos)
7 Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) + 45s
8 Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) + 46s
9 Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) + 51s
10 Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb)
