00:01On to stage four of the Tour of Verne Rhône-Alpes.
00:04And after some excellent performances in yesterday's team time trial,
00:07notably from Visma Lisa Bike, Net Company INEOS and EF Education Easy Post,
00:13it's still Alex Boudin who leads the race.
00:15The Frenchman determined to defend yellow and blue again today,
00:18but not too bothered about the stage win.
00:22We won't do the sprints, so it'll be up to other teams to close the gap
00:26if they want to win the stage.
00:28To be honest, it suits us if the breakaway goes all the way.
00:32And personally, I think it's good to give the break opportunities like that.
00:38With another decent chance for the breakaway,
00:40there is bound to be a big battle at the start.
00:43Teams like UNOX Mobility, who won stage two with Anton Czarmic,
00:47will be hunting for more success, provided they can hold off the peloton.
00:53I think I can go both ways.
00:55We hope for breakaway.
00:57I think it will take a long time for the break,
01:01and then we will see how big the break and which teams are not in,
01:04and I think it will be an interesting day.
01:07There aren't many pure sprinters at this race given all the climbing,
01:10so there may not be too many teams who are interested in controlling the race
01:14to set up a bunch of sprints.
01:16There are some sprinters here, but obviously there are not too many opportunities in this race to go for a
01:22sprint,
01:22so maybe Bahrain might control with Bauhaus or Ineos with their sprinter.
01:29So, I mean, let's wait and see.
01:31But, yeah, we've got to play our cards at the start to see what we can get in our terms.
01:39Stage four is 167km between Le Puy-en-Velay and Mont-Rent-les-Bains.
01:44There are six climbs, but the last of them tops out with almost 60km to go before a sweeping descent
01:50and a flat run into the finish.
01:52It's very long and very straight in the final, but there could be echelons if the wind picks up.
02:01As expected, there was a ferocious start, and it took more than 60km for the breakaway to form.
02:07We already heard from Andreas Krohn.
02:09He was one of the men who sparked the move with Jordan Gigat and the American champion Quinn Simmons.
02:14They were joined by nine more riders, including guys we've already seen on the attack this week.
02:19Matteo Versi, Raul Garcia-Pierne and George Bennett, the best placed on GC at 3 minutes 29.
02:25Strong riders like Finn Fischerplack, Pablo Castrillo, Marco Frigo and the British champion Sam Watson were also in there.
02:3312 riders in all, but the sprint teams, and notably Cofidis for Brian Cocker, were keeping them on a tight
02:38leash.
02:39The gap never more than two minutes.
02:42Well, when they hit the climbs, it was Jan Castellon of Caia Rural who was targeting the mountains points.
02:47The Spaniard picking up nine on the day to go fifth in that classification.
02:53The brake embarking on the descent and only leading by a minute and 20 now.
02:58This was looking good for the sprinters.
03:03The up crash.
03:05One rider down on the left-hand side.
03:10Sam Watson goes down in the breakaway.
03:14Just couldn't even hold the bike.
03:21A nasty moment there for Sam Watson.
03:23We hope that he's okay.
03:24While a few minutes later, George Bennett sat up.
03:27The champion of New Zealand apparently deciding that the breakaway was the lost cause, or simply, he no longer had
03:33the legs.
03:35Well, Cofidis are really turning the screw now for Cocker, and they were getting some help from Bahrain Victorious for
03:41Phil Bauhaus and Visma Lisebeik for Wout van Aerts.
03:44The breakaway, though, still collaborating nicely, and the fight was on, with the sprint teams burning through their domestiques on
03:50this seemingly endless straight road that led to the finish.
03:53The break still leading at the Flamme Rouge.
03:57This one was going down to the wire.
04:02Yann Castellon is there, moving up on the outside.
04:06It is Vershailles, and they are going to contest the sprint.
04:09Cron and Simmonds.
04:10Andreas Cron.
04:12Quinn Simmonds goes on the left-hand side in the colours of the United States of America.
04:17Here goes Finn Fischer-Black for Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe.
04:20Quinn Simmonds wins the stage.
04:22The breakaway makes it to the line.
04:28Well, it looked as though the sprinters would have their day today, but the breakaway had other ideas.
04:33A sensational effort from the ten guys at the front, and Quinn Simmonds proved the strongest of them.
04:38The American securing his eighth career victory and the third at World Tour level.
04:43It's his first success in almost exactly a year since the Tour de Suisse 2025.
04:49Behind the Tour, this is the biggest stage race of the year for us.
04:53To come here and to take a stage here, it's been a year since I put my hands in the
04:57air, so it's pretty special.
05:01Simmonds sprinting to victory ahead of Fischer-Black, Verche and Frigo.
05:05Van Aert led in the peloton four seconds later, followed by Cocker and Bauhaus.
05:10No problem for Alex Boudin, who kept hold of the race lead for another day.
05:14The Frenchman is still 12 seconds clear of Kevin Vaucola and Oscar Onley, with Matteo Jorgensen at 15 seconds.
05:21Nadav Reisberg took ten points at the early intermediate sprint, so he remains in the green jersey by six points
05:27from Raul Garcia Piana.
05:30No change at the top of the mountains classification, it's still Clement Brazzafonso who leads Boudin and Benjamin Thomas.
05:41And no change at the top of the youth classification either.
05:44Boudin still holds white, ahead of Vaucola and Onley.
05:50Well, Stage 5 has a similar profile to today.
05:53Climbing at the start, but then it's flat for the last 80 kilometres or so, so the sprinters will have
05:57another chance.
05:58Join us for that tomorrow and thanks for watching.
