Tour de France 2012

No change to GC: Cancellara still leads the Tour 2012

06 Jul 12|01:47 AM

It was a sprint of a different nature as Cavendish was not in the mix. He crashed with 2.6km to go. Meanwhile, up ahead his usual rivals all fought it out for the stage and Greipel won the drag race. For all the time spent on their bikes today - over five hours in the saddle - there was no change to the top order of the general classification. Fabian Cancellara will spend his 26th day in the Tour de France's yellow jersey in stage five.

The top five in stage four

06 Jul 12|01:44 AM

André Greipel has given his Lotto-Belisol team-mate the perfect reward for all their work today. He has won the stage in Rouen. The top five is: 1. André Greipel (GER) LTB 214.5km in 5h18'32" 2. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) LAM 3. Tom Veelers (NED) ARG 4. Matt Goss (AUS) OGE 5. Peter Sagan (SVK) LIQ

TOP 5 der Etappe

06 Jul 12|01:43 AM

1. Andre Greipel 2. Alessandro Petacchi 3. Tom Veelers 4. Matt Goss 5. Peter Sagan

Sieg für Greipel

06 Jul 12|01:42 AM

Der Sprinter von Lotto-Belisol holt sich den zweiten Etappensieg seiner Karriere bei der Tour de France.

Greipel gets the win!

06 Jul 12|01:42 AM

André Greipel has won his second stage of the Tour de France! He has held off a late charge from Petacchi, Goss and Sagan.

Lotto in charge...

06 Jul 12|01:41 AM

Inside the final kilometer there are four Lotto riders at the front of the stage. Goss is tucked in on the wheel of Greipel and the sprint has begun.

Der letzte Kilometer

06 Jul 12|01:40 AM

Es zeichnet sich ein Sprint unter Führung von Lotto ab.

2km to go

06 Jul 12|01:40 AM

Vacansoleil is in charge of the lead-out in the final 2km of the stage. They know they won't have to contend with Cavendish who is still on the ground but now it's time for Argos to start their lead-out.

Sturz 3 km vor dem Ziel

06 Jul 12|01:39 AM

Zahlreiche Sprinter sind in den Sturz verwickelt, darunter auch Cavendish.

Cavendish in a crash!

06 Jul 12|01:39 AM

There has been a huge crash with 2.6km to go. Cavendish has been caught up as has Hutarovich and Wiggins.

Feld wieder geschlossen

06 Jul 12|01:38 AM

Das Angreifertrio wird 4 km vor dem Ziel eingeholt.

All together...

06 Jul 12|01:38 AM

The peloton is now led by Orica-GreenEdge riders and Lotto-Belisol men; all the escapes are over...

Noch 5 km

06 Jul 12|01:37 AM

Das Hauptfeld hat Dumoulin, Chavanel und Poels fast eingeholt.

Arashiro wins 'Fighting Spirit' prize

06 Jul 12|01:37 AM

Arashiro will earn a red race number an a few kisses from the podium girls for his attack today. He has been voted the most aggressive rider of the fourth stage.

Größter Kampfgeist

06 Jul 12|01:36 AM

Yukiya Arashiro wurde von der Jury mit dem Preis für den größten Kampfgeist ausgezeichnet.

Rabobank leads peloton

06 Jul 12|01:36 AM

There are three riders from Rabobank at the front of the peloton now. They have the Dumoulin trio in their sights but there is no real coordination in the lead-out of the bunch and that's giving the counter-attackers a little bit of an advantage on the final run to Rouen.

Neues Trio

06 Jul 12|01:35 AM

Chavanel, Dumoulin und Poels haben einige hundert Meter Vorsprung auf den Rest des Felds.

Three new leaders

06 Jul 12|01:35 AM

There are now three riders on the attack: Dumoulin (COF), Chavanel (OPQ) and a rider from Vacansoleil, Poels.

Ausreißversuch beendet

06 Jul 12|01:34 AM

Das Peloton ist gut 7,5 km vor der Ziellinie wieder vereint.

Sieben Fahrer vorn

06 Jul 12|01:34 AM

Arashiro (EUC), Moncoutié (COF) und Delaplace (SAU) wurden 8 km vor dem Ziel von ihren Verfolgern eingeholt.

Escape over at 206km

06 Jul 12|01:34 AM

Arashiro, Moncoutie and Delaplace have been caught by the peloton after 206km at the front of the stage.

Trio wieder vereint

06 Jul 12|01:33 AM

Arashiro (EUC), Moncoutié (COF) und Delaplace (SAU) werden jetzt von einer kleinen Gruppe mit Gilbert, Bouet, Chavanel, Dumoulin und Pineau verfolgt.

Eight in the lead

06 Jul 12|01:33 AM

Gilbert's quintet has caught the three escapees.

Bouet and Pineau counter-attack

06 Jul 12|01:32 AM

Grivko's attack didn't last long. He has been caught and passed by Pineau (OPQ) and Bouet (ALM). They have Gilbert (BMC) along for the ride as they hunt down the leading trio with 9km to go.

Angriff von Delaplace

06 Jul 12|01:31 AM

Gut 10 km vor dem Ziel versucht Delaplace, die anderen Ausreißer hinter sich zu lassen. Grivko nutzt seinerseits die Chance, aus dem Hauptfeld auszuscheren.

10km to go

06 Jul 12|01:31 AM

Have you been watching the broadcast? Who would get your vote for the 'Fighting Spirit' award? Delaplace is giving the escape one last surge and Moncoutie responds. They are less than 10km from the finish but there are now some riders jumping off the front of the peloton including Andriy Grivko who is at 12". The peloton is at 15".

Nur noch 30"

06 Jul 12|01:30 AM

Das Rennen erreicht einen nicht gewerteten Anstieg, der sich für das Trio an der Spitze aber als entscheidend erweisen könnte.

Less than a minute advantage now

06 Jul 12|01:27 AM

The bunch is closing in on the leaders quickly. There is now just 48" between the first three and the bunch. The escape has been alive for 202km already and capture of Moncoutie, Arashiro and Delaplace is iminent.

Vorsprung weniger als eine Minute

06 Jul 12|01:26 AM

Das Trio an der Spitze hat zunehmend Schwierigkeiten. 14 km vor dem Ziel kommt das Feld auf 55’’ heran.

Noch 15 km

06 Jul 12|01:24 AM

Arashiro (EUC), Moncoutié (COF) und Delaplace (SAU) verteidigen einen Vorsprung, aber dieser schmilzt auf 1’05’’.

Advantage drops to 1'05"

06 Jul 12|01:24 AM

The pace of the peloton is picking up to around 50km/h while the escapees - now inside the final 15km - are slowing down a bit. It all adds up to what most people expected before the stage even started: a bunch sprint is the likely conclusion... the latest time check has Arashiro and co only 1'05" ahead.

Weniger als zwei Minuten Abstand

06 Jul 12|01:20 AM

Es sind noch 20 km bis zum Ziel und das Hauptfeld hat nur noch 1’35’’ Rückstand. An der Spitze des Felds sind Fahrer von Orica-GreenEdge und Lotto-Belisol zu sehen.

Peloton at 1'35"

06 Jul 12|01:19 AM

As the peloton passes under the 20km to go banner, it is 1'35" behind the three escapees.

Arashiro no longer virtual leader...

06 Jul 12|01:18 AM

Arashiro is the rider who started the escape today. He is, however, no longer the virtual leader of the Tour. His trio is inside the final 20km but their advantage on the peloton is now 1'45". He started the day ranked 54th, 2'03" behind Cancellara.

Sean Yates: "Das ist die beste Position."

06 Jul 12|01:15 AM

Im Gespräch mit France Télévisions erklärt der Sportdirektor von Sky während des Rennens, warum er seine Fahrer instruiert hat, sich an die Spitze des Fahrerfelds zu setzen: „Das ist im Moment die beste Position. Wir wollen Stürze oder Reifenpannen von Bradley Wiggins abwenden, aber das ist alles. Wenn Cavendish am Hinterrad von Eisel hängt, kann das gut sein. Er ist auf jeden Fall stark.“

25km to go...

06 Jul 12|01:13 AM

Arashiro, Moncoutie and Delaplace are inside the final 25km of the stage. They are just 2'00" ahead after having reached a maximum gain of 8'40" at the 18km mark.

Sky tritt auf den Plan

06 Jul 12|01:11 AM

Mehrere Teamkollegen von Bradley Wiggins positionieren sich an der Spitze des Felds, das km 188 mit 2’05’’ Abstand auf die Führenden passiert.

Dry roads again...

06 Jul 12|01:08 AM

The rain that fell was only a localised shower. But it's worth noting that the peloton is riding in bright sunshine again now and it's likely to stay dry all the way to the finish in Rouen which is now just 27km away for the three leaders who are 2'15" ahead of the bunch.

Peloton holt auf

06 Jul 12|01:06 AM

Der Vorsprung von Arashiro (EUC), Moncoutié (COF) und Delaplace (SAU) schmilzt auf 2’35’’.

All crash victims back in the peloton

06 Jul 12|01:05 AM

Radio Tour has announced that all the riders who fell at the 45km to go mark are now back in the peloton which is about 34km from the finish.

Three teams leading

06 Jul 12|01:04 AM

Voigt (RNT) is back on the front of the peloton which is 2'50" behind Arashiro's trio. The other teams setting the pace are FDJ and Lotto-Belisol.

Abstand bei km 178

06 Jul 12|01:03 AM

Arashiro (EUC), Moncoutié (COF) und Delaplace (SAU) haben 3’ Vorsprung auf das Feld, das jetzt merklich das Tempo verschärft.

Matt White: "Es besteht kein großer Unterschied."

06 Jul 12|01:01 AM

Im Gespräch mit letour.fr stellt der Sportdirektor von Orica-GreenEdge seinen Plan vor, um Mark Cavendish zu schlagen: „Im Idealfall müssten wir vor den Fahrern von Sky mit dem Sprint anfangen. Er ist der schnellste Fahrer der Welt, aber er ist nicht unschlagbar. Wir müssen nur sicherstellen, dass es uns gelingt, Matt Goss bis zum besten Moment zu begleiten, um ihm die größtmöglichen Chancen zu verschaffen. In Tournai war er zu weit weg, auch wenn er die nötige Kraft hatte. Es besteht kein großer Unterschied zwischen Cavendish, Greipel und Goss. Wir werden in Rouen unser Glück versuchen, in der Hoffnung auf den Sieg.“

Three dropped...

06 Jul 12|01:00 AM

Di Gregorio (COF), Danielson (GRS) and Kern (EUC) have not been able to maintain the pace of the peloton in the last few minutes.

Hansen splits the peloton

06 Jul 12|00:59 AM

Hansen is at the front of the bunch now and causing some damage in the peloton with the pace he's setting. The head of the peloton has split a little and the riders are in one long line. We can see the effect of his work too as the latest time check has Arashio's trio only 3'10" ahead.

Arashiro caught...

06 Jul 12|00:58 AM

Arashiro's attack didn't last long. He has been chased down by his escape companions who have been with him since the first kilometer of stage four.

Nibali catches the peloton...

06 Jul 12|00:57 AM

Nibali (LIQ) has rejoined the peloton after his incident with 45km to go.

Trio bildet sich neu

06 Jul 12|00:56 AM

Arashiro (EUC), Moncoutié (COF) und Delaplace (SAU) sind bei km 177,5 wieder geschlossen zusammen.

Arashiro beschleunigt

06 Jul 12|00:55 AM

Der japanische Fahrer versucht, seine Mitstreiter der Ausreißergruppe auf einer Abfahrt 38 km vor dem Ziel abzuschütteln.

Arashiro attacking...

06 Jul 12|00:55 AM

At the front of the stage, Arashiro has decided it's time to go on the attack. He has a lead of about 100 meters on Moncoutie and Delaplace with 38km to go.

3'35" between leaders & peloton

06 Jul 12|00:53 AM

Nibali still has a bit of work to do to rejoin the peloton but he doesn't seem too bothered. The main pack is now 3'35" behind the escapees who are inside the final 40km.

Sturz 45 km vor dem Ziel

06 Jul 12|00:52 AM

Cantwelle geht zu Boden und Nibali wird durch den Vorfall ausgebremst. Zwei Teamkollegen warten auf ihn, um ihn wieder an das Feld heranzuführen.

All fallen riders are racing again

06 Jul 12|00:52 AM

All the riders in the recent accident are riding again. It doesn't seem as though Nibali actually came down, rather he was just caught up in a tangle of bikes. He is about to rejoin the peloton thanks to the help of three team-mates.

Crash in the peloton...

06 Jul 12|00:51 AM

There has been a crash at the back of the peloton that includes Cantwell (STB) and a number of others. It appears as though Nibali (LIQ) has been caught up but he is back on his bike and has two Liquigas team-mates along for support. The incident happened with about 45km to go in the stage.

Matt White: We hope we can pull off a win

06 Jul 12|00:48 AM

“There are some black clouds off to our right and hopefully we’ll dodge them and miss out on a real downpour today,” said Matt White of Orica-GreenEdge when contacted by LeTour.fr recently. We asked the DS if he could explain how it is that Matt Goss is going to beat Mark Cavendish today. “Ideally,” he said, “we just have to finish the sprint in front of them. He’s the fastest guy in the world but I think he is beatable. We’ve just got to deliver at the right time to give him the best chance. “In Tournai he just came from too far back. It was a pretty hectic sprint but he’s got the power there and there’s not much difference between the top three sprinters – Cav, Greipel and Goss. They’re all pretty evenly matched. “We’ve had Sebastian [Langeveld] up there swapping off for 100km but there’s not urgency to bring that break back at the moment. I’m sure it’ll come back in the last 10 or 15km. We’ve going to give it a try in Rouen... and we hope we can pull off a win.”

Peloton rides into the rain

06 Jul 12|00:37 AM

The peloton is now led by Katusha, Movistar and RadioShack riders. Rain is starting to fall on the bunch that is 4'45" behind the escapees.

Raining on leaders...

06 Jul 12|00:35 AM

After a sunny start to the stage, the escapees are currently riding on wet roads as they make their way towards Rouen which is now just 54km away.

60km to go...

06 Jul 12|00:28 AM

The peloton is now less than 5 minutes behind the three escapees. The latest time check has the Orica/RadioShack/FDJ/Lotto-led peloton 4'50" behind Arashiro, Moncoutie and Delaplace.

Average for the 4th hour...

06 Jul 12|00:25 AM

The average speed for the fourth hour of racing today is the fastest so far today: 39.2km/h. The average for the first four hours is 38.0km/h.

FDJ assisting the peloton's pacesetting...

06 Jul 12|00:22 AM

There are now a couple of FDJ riders also at the front of the peloton. They look like they're interested in helping to reel in the escapees who are 6'00" ahead. The sprinter for the French team is Yauheni Hutarovich. This is the second Tour for the Belarus rider (after making his debut in 2009). He has finished in the top 5 three times: 3rd in St-Fargeau (2009, when Cavendish was the winner), 5th in Paris (2009, when Cavendish was the winner), and 7th in Tournai (2012, when Cavendish was the winner).

Peloton over the cote de Toussaint...

06 Jul 12|00:16 AM

At the top of the final climb of the stage, the peloton is 6'15" behind the three escapees.

Leaders lose 1'00" around intermediate sprint...

06 Jul 12|00:15 AM

When the peloton was 5km from the intermediate sprint, it was 7'05" behind the three stage leaders. At Fecamp (140km) it was down to 6'05".

Full result of Fecamp sprint

06 Jul 12|00:13 AM

This is the result of the intermediate sprint of stage four: 1. Arashiro (EUC) 20 pts 2. Delaplace (SAU) 17pts 3. Moncoutie (COF) 15pts 4. Cavendish (SKY) 13pts - at 6'05" 5. Goss (OGE) 11pts 6. Renshaw (RAB) 10pts 7. Sagan (LIQ) 9pts 8. Petacchi (LAM) 8pts 9. van Hummel (VCD) 7pts 10. Hutarovich (FDJ) 6pts 11. Burghardt (BMC) 5pts 12. Kuchynski (KAT) 4pts 13. Lancaster (OGE) 3pts 14. Impey (OCE) 2pts 15. Ladagnous (FD) 1pt

Cavendish beats Goss for fourth in Fecamp

06 Jul 12|00:11 AM

The peloton has reached the site of the intermediate sprint. Goss looked to have it covered but he was beaten by the world champion for fourth place... (Full results to follow.)

Point for fourth climb

06 Jul 12|00:09 AM

The leaders have reached the final climb of the stage. Delaplace took first place ahead of Moncoutie.

Result of the first three at Fecamp sprint

06 Jul 12|00:05 AM

The first three have taken the points of the intermediate sprint. The order over the line was: 1. Arashiro (EUC) 20pts 2. Delaplace (SAU) 17pts 3. Moncoutie (COF) 15pts Full results will follow once the sprint has been contested by the peloton.

1km to the sprint...

06 Jul 12|00:03 AM

Arashiro, Delaplace and Moncoutie are less than 1,000m from the site of the intermediate sprint. They are 7'00" ahead of the peloton.

Sagan: the first stage winner born in the 1990s...

06 Jul 12|00:01 AM

When the Tour began in Liège in 2004, the winner of the prologue was Fabian Cancellara (who won again on Saturday and currently leads the Tour). The Swiss rider was the first man born in the 1980s to win a stage of the Tour. Later, in that edition, the youngest man in the race at the time - Filippo Pozzato - would win a stage (in St-Brieuc). This year, Peter Sagan - who was born on 26 January 1990 - has won two stages already. He is the first rider born in the 1990s to win a stage of the Tour. At 22, Sagan is the youngest winner of a Tour stage since Lance Armstrong success in Verdun in the 1993 Tour. The youngest rider in the 2012 Tour is Thibaut Pinot.

10km to Fecamp sprint

04 Jul 12|23:52 PM

The leaders are inside the 10km leading to the intermediate sprint. Their advantage of 6'45" is likely to be reduced in the next little while as the head of the peloton changes color with the likes of Liquigas and Orica-GreenEdge likely to come forward in the hunt for points in Fecamp.

Delaplace an escapee in stage five last year...

04 Jul 12|23:50 PM

Anthony Delaplace is one of the riders in the escape today. He made his debut in the Tour in 2011 when he was the youngest rider in the race. The Saur-Sojasun rider was in an escape group in stage five last year, when it went along the northern coastline of Brittany. The move was over well before the end, and was caught 45km from the finish (when Cavendish was the winner). Today Delaplace is in the break with Arashiro (EUC) and Moncoutie (COF) and they are 6'25" ahead of the peloton that's being led by, amongst others, the oldest rider in the Tour of 2012.

Cancellara consults team car...

04 Jul 12|23:43 PM

With Tony Gallopin sharing the pace setting duties at the front of the peloton with Sebastian Langeveld (OGE) and riders from Lotto-Belisol, the race leader Cancellara has dropped behind the bunch to talk to Alain Gallopin in the RadioShack team car. The directeur sportif is the uncle of the rider with the same surname.

Fecamp hosted a stage start in 1995

04 Jul 12|23:39 PM

The intermediate sprint today is in Fécamp. It was here in 1995 that a stage began (and finished in Dunkirk). The winner was the Dutch sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens ahead of Jan Svorada and Erik Zabel. Fecamp is at the 140km mark of today's stage and marks the point where the peloton will leave the coast and aim inland.

Correction for second climb today

04 Jul 12|23:35 PM

Radio Tour has recently corrected an original announcement for the second climb of today's stage. The winner of the cote de Dieppe was, in fact, Anthony Delaplace (SAU) not David Moncoutie (COF) as originally claimed...

Orica-GreenEdge's objectives remain the same

04 Jul 12|23:33 PM

From the moment that the team roster for the new Australian GreenEdge outfit was revealed to the public, the mission statement was clear. The aim for the team's debut in the Tour is to win the green jersey. Before the race started this year, LeTour.fr asked Matt White if there was a temptation to stray from that original plan. “There’s been no deviation from our original objective," he said in Liège. "Obviously we’ve got a lot of goals for the Tour de France and one of them is the green jersey with Matt Goss. We’re not hiding our plans – we’re definitely chasing a win in the points classification along with a few other teams – but as you can see from the make up of the team, we’re quite versatile. That said, we’re not going general classification. We want stage wins. That’s the number-one target: to win a stage of the Tour de France with someone from our roster... and then give Matt Goss a chance to chase the green jersey all the way to Paris.”

Inside final 100km

04 Jul 12|23:29 PM

The escapees are less than 100km from the finish and they have a lead of 6'05". They have been on the attack for over 100km after Arashiro launched ahead of the bunch at the moment that the flag fell to signal the official start at 12.22pm. He was quickly joined by Delaplace (SAU) who was in the escape of stage one, and Moncoutie (COF) who has claimed first place at the three climbs so far today...

Average for 3rd hour: 37.4km/h

04 Jul 12|23:27 PM

The average speed for the third hour in stage four is 37.4km/h. The average for the first two hours is 37.6km/h.

White discusses Goss' form

04 Jul 12|23:15 PM

One of the teams contributing to the pace setting in stage four is Orica-GreenEdge. The hope today is to launch Matt Goss in a winning bid for stage honors. LeTour.fr caught up with Matt White before the Tour and asked him how Goss' preparation has been before the Tour. “It’s not a program that he’s done before," said the team directeur sportif. "He might be 25 years of age but he hasn’t been at this level for so long. He’s never done the Giro [d’Italia] to prepare for the Tour de France – but he also only did 12 stages of the Giro. We deliberately pulled him out of the Giro when we did. It was a good block of racing up to that point with the Tour of Turkey and then the Giro – but he also had a month off before Turkey which was preparation for the Giro and the Giro acted as preparation for the Tour. “When you look at the preparation of Mark Cavendish and Matt Goss, they’re pretty similar. We started a little bit early, in January, with Gossie and they started in Qatar; they used Romandie/Giro/Ster ZLM, we used Turkey/Giro/Tour of Slovenia... the only difference is they stayed on for a bit longer. Obviously the plan for those guys is to get the right mix of racing.”

The 31 nations represented in Le Tour 2012

04 Jul 12|23:10 PM

The 2012 Tour started with 198 riders but there are now 195. Here is a breakdown of what countries are represented in the race today. 44: France 20: Spain (it was 21 but Rojas crashed out with a broken collarbone in stage three) 17: Netherlands (Tjallingii was at the start but crashed out in stage three and broke his hip) 15: Italy 14: Belgium 13: Germany 12: Australia 8: USA 5: Denmark, Great Britain and Russia 4: Kazakhstan and Slovenia 3: Slovakia, Switzerland and Belarus (one less than at the start as Sivtsov crashed out with a broken tibia in stage three) 2: South Africa, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and Ukraine 1: Argentina, Austria, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, New Zealand and Poland.

Lead down to 5'50"

04 Jul 12|23:02 PM

As the peloton arrives in the feedzone (94km) it is 5'50" behind the three escapees who attacked in the first kilometer of the stage.

Gerrans: I look like I've been attacked by a wild cat

04 Jul 12|22:59 PM

After showing the wounds sustained in the crash, Gerrans was asked to compare his injuries to those of Johnny Hoogerland from last year’s Tour. "I was caught up in the barbed wire,” said Gerrans. “My arm was stuck in there, and I couldn't get my arm out until someone else hit the barbed wire and gave it a rattle. There are only a couple of scratches - I look like I've been attacked by a wild cat, I will be okay. “I'm disappointed, because there aren't a heck of a lot of opportunities in the Tour de France for a guy like me. Stage three was a day I was really hoping to have a go at, so to be taken out [with 30km to go] was pretty disappointing. “I knew I was never coming back after that crash, it took a few minutes by the time I got a new bike. Fortunately I had Brett Lancaster and Sebastian Langeveld, they waited for me. From what I understand, the peloton completely split up there and there were quite a few guys who didn't come back from that crash.”

Comments from Gerrans (OGE)...

04 Jul 12|22:56 PM

There were a number of crashes in the third stage of the 2012 Tour. One of the riders involved was Simon Gerrans of the Orica-GreenEdge team. He went off the road and into a barbed wire fence. But he finished the stage and offered some comments on the incident to the media in Boulogne. “I'm not too bad, I could be a heck of a lot worse,” said the Australian champion. He finished 10’37” behind Sagan in the stage and is now in 146th overall. “I was right up the front, in good position, with good sensations and I thought I would have a really red-hot go in the final. Some riders fell on the road, so I went off the road to avoid them. I got up caught up in a bike and just hit the deck from there, I was caught up in the barbed wire fence. Fortunately nothing is serious, no broken bones, so I was able to finish the stage and I will battle on tomorrow.”

Mild continues on the coast

04 Jul 12|22:49 PM

The temperature at the moment is just 21.5 degrees. There are blue skies over the Tour de France and there's not much wind today but the riders still have another 20km to ride before turning inland where it is significantly warmer with temperatures in the mid- to high-20s (Celsius).

2nd Argos-Shimano puncture in 10 minutes

04 Jul 12|22:47 PM

The Argos-Shimano mechanic is servicing a rider who has just punctured his rear tire. It's the second flat for the team in about 10 minutes.

Voigt a two-time winner of Duo Normand

04 Jul 12|22:37 PM

There is a two-man time trial conducted near where today's Tour is contested that's called the 'Duo Normand'. Currently we see Jens Voigt (RNT) leading the peloton and we can report that the team-mate of Cancellara - and the oldest man in the race this year - has twice one the Duo Normand. His first success was in 1999 when he was with the Credit Agricole team and he partnered up with Chris Boardman to take the victory. (Boardman, by the way, claimed his second Tour prologue win in Rouen in 1997.) Voigt's second victory in the Duo Normand was in 2001 when his partner was Jonathan Vaughters - who is in the Garmin-Sharp team car today. In second place 11 years ago was a formidable pairing: Michael Rogers and Fabian Cancellara.

The 2nd hour: 37.8km/h

04 Jul 12|22:25 PM

The average speed for the second hour of stage four is  37.8km/h. The average for the first the first two hours combined is 37.7km/h.

Comments from BMC's Lelangue

04 Jul 12|22:24 PM

"We managed to stay completely out of trouble," said the directeur sportif of the BMC team this morning when asked about stage three. "That's what we expected. As I've said since October, you needed a solid classics team for the start of the Tour. This team is stronger than last year's. I don't look at what the pther teams are doing but I saw some had problems. It confirms that we made the right choices."

Moncoutie takes third climb

04 Jul 12|22:22 PM

David Moncoutie (COF) has led the escape over the third climb of the stage. He now has three points in the race for the polka-dot jersey and is ranked second behind Michael Morkov (STB).

Three teams lead the peloton

04 Jul 12|22:21 PM

Lotto-Belisol and Orica-GreenEdge have put one man each at the front of the peloton. They are sharing the workload with RadioShack-Nissan and the advantage of the escape has dropped to 6'40".

Leaders near third climb

04 Jul 12|22:19 PM

The escapees are inside the final kilometer of the cote de Pourville-sur-Mer which is a 1.9km long ascent with an average gradient of 4.4 per cent. Moncoutie is setting the pace and is likely to add another point to his tally in the climbing prize...

Another point for Moncoutie

04 Jul 12|22:14 PM

The leaders are over the second climb. The point for the cat-4 Cote de Dieppe was won by David Moncoutie who is now equal-second in the climbing classification.

Three winners of the Cote Picarde in peloton

04 Jul 12|22:13 PM

The peloton is currently on roads that are regularly used for the under-23 race, the Cote Picarde. Three former winners are in the peloton today. They are Andrey Kashechkin (AST), winner in 2001, Guillaume Levarlet (SAU), winner in 2006; Kristijan Koren, winner in 2008.

Lead down to 7'00"

04 Jul 12|22:11 PM

With the peloton at the 63km mark, it is 7'00" behind the three escapees. For the time being, Arashiro is still the virtual leader of the Tour after starting the stage ranked 54th overall 2'03" behind Cancellara.

Details of the cote de Dieppe

04 Jul 12|22:08 PM

The escapees are near the second climb of the stage. The côte de Dieppe is 1.8km long with an average gradient of 3.9 per cent. The top is at the 69km mark. There is one point on offer as it's rated category-four.

Voigt does the driving...

04 Jul 12|22:02 PM

The oldest man in the 99th Tour is now at the front of the bunch and the effect of Jens Voigt's work is already apparent. He has dropped the escape's advantage from 8'35" to 7'35" in the last 10 minutes.

Brice Feillu: a 42 degree fever...

04 Jul 12|22:00 PM

Brice Feillu has won a stage of the Tour in the past but towards the end of stage one he was the first to be dropped by the peloton. He’s been suffering with an illness in the opening days of his second start in the race. The Young Reporters of the Tour de France caught up with the Saur-Sojasun rider at the start of the stage to find out how he’s coping with his gastroenteritis. “I’m riding but I’m in my own world at the moment,” said Feillu. “I feel isolate and the last few days have been very difficult. Two days ago I had a temperature of 42 degrees... but I’m feeling a bit better now. Today I still suffer, but I will still try to maintain my strength. In any case we have three weeks to perform. And I’m already thinking about the stages this weekend. I’m sure it will not be a bad memory. I intend to be an protagonist in the race on Saturday in the stage to La Planche des Belles Filles and on Sunday on the road to Porrentruy.”

Birthday in the bunch today...

04 Jul 12|21:51 PM

Today is the 30th birthday of Vladimir Gusev, the rider who wore the white jersey for a few days in the 2007 Tour (as a member of the Discovery Channel team). He is racing for Katusha this year and is currently ranked 50th overall, 1'41" behind Cancellara. Happy birthday Vladimir!

RadioShack lead the peloton

04 Jul 12|21:49 PM

With the advantage of the escape up to 8'35", the RadioShack-Nissan team has sent a few riders to the front of the bunch. Lotto-Belisol chased for a while and dropped the advantage from 8'40" to 7'20" but the pace of the peloton has eased a little in the last little while...

5km between leaders and peloton

04 Jul 12|21:43 PM

Christian Prudhomme has just announced that the stage leaders are at the 50km mark of the 214.5km stage to Rouen. The peloton is 8'15" behind and at the 45km mark.

Dieppe has hosted seven Tour stage finishes...

04 Jul 12|21:40 PM

The next climb of the fourth stage is the côte de Dieppe. In the history of the Tour, Dieppe has hosted seven stage finishes but they were a long time ago. The most recent visit there was in 1975 when the winner of the race from Caen was Ronald De Witte of Belgium. He beat six-day legend Patrick Sercu and Cyrille Guimard was third in what was a 165km stage.

Peloton behind by 8'00" at 38km

04 Jul 12|21:33 PM

At the top of the first climb today, the peloton is led by Lotto-Belisol and its deficit to the three escapees is 8'00".

Moncoutie collects a point

04 Jul 12|21:25 PM

At the first climb of the fourth stage, the two-time winner of the King of the Mountains crown at the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain), David Moncoutie has nabbed the one point on offer... his bid for the polka-dot jersey has officially begun.

Average speed for the opening hour

04 Jul 12|21:24 PM

The leaders have covered 37.6km in the first hour of racing stage four. They are about to contest the sprint for a climbing point on the first of four hills today.

Another US Victory on July 4?

04 Jul 12|21:23 PM

Last year's third stage of the Tour was contested on the national holiday in the United States for July the Fourth. The winner was Tyler Farrar... The peloton is already wary of the gains made by the escapees who are about to tackle the first ascent of the stage. And the chase by the sprint teams has begun: the latest time check has Arashio's trio ahead by 7'30".

Rogers interview (part 03)

04 Jul 12|21:11 PM

LeTour.fr asked Michael Rogers about the stage today and wanted to know what his exactly role was. Obviously everyone has got to surround Bradley but who in particular is he key man? “In these stages, we’re all around him, taking it in turns to look after him and get him through tough times – especially moments like yesterday in the final," said the Australian. "Then there are going to be times when it’s really Chris [Froome], Richie [Porte] and myself who are there to support him.” And, what about today: anything we should know about your team? “No, not really anything out of the ordinary. Obviously we’re looking forward to a sprint and Bernie and ‘Bo’ [Boasson Hagen] and ‘Cav’ will be up there doing their thing and hopefully they can get up there without too much trouble and have a shot of the stage victory.”

Lotto-Belisol decide to ride...

04 Jul 12|21:09 PM

With the maximum advantage of the escapees up to 8'40" at the 16km mark, the sprinters' teams have had to decide how long before they start to chase. Lotto-Belisol has taken that initiative around the 20km mark and already the leading trio have lost some of their gains. The bunch is now 7'30" behind Arashiro, Moncoutie and Delaplace at the 23km mark.

Rogers interview (part 02)

04 Jul 12|21:07 PM

When LeTour.fr spoke with Michael Rogers this morning we asked if he felt like he was a little jinxed in the opening few days: you’ve have an accident, punctured at a bad time, and been held up by falls. Can you explain the first few days for you? “I’ve actually only crashed once and I’ve obviously been held up a bit this year but I don’t think there is anyone in the peloton who has been affected by the nature of the racing here this year," responded Rogers. "It’s quite normal in the first week of racing at the Tour that things can happen and they probably will. It’s been pretty nervous so far but I’m predicting that things will kind of settle down a little bit now.” It’s a big shame to see ‘Costa’ Sivtsov have to abandon. Can you tell us what happened? “He broke his left tibia. He came down in a crash [in stage three]; a rider hit him from behind and his leg got jammed in someone’s bike and when he got pushed forward he had no where to go and the bone must’ve snapped then. That’s a bit unfortunate for ‘Costa’ – and all of the team – because he was a big man for us in the mountains. He is an all-rounder really and he’s very reliable. “It’s upsetting, especially because it’s Costa. Everyone was upset to see that he was injured. But that’s the nature of the sport. There’s nothing we can do about it so we’ve got to soldier on.”

Comments from Michael Rogers... (part 01)

04 Jul 12|21:02 PM

LeTour.fr caught up with one of the Australians on the Sky team before the start of the stage and, during our chat, we asked Michael Rogers about the conditions of the opening stages. It looks particularly crazy at the finish these past two days. Is it worse than other years from your perspective? “It’s hard to say. It’s always stressful," said Rogers, who has crashed once and punctured a couple of times at crucial moments. But he's relatively unphased and is happy with how things are going. Still, he has a theory on one thing that's making the Tour more treacherous for riders. "I think that there is one big difference the more I ride this race and the biggest change is the advent of digital cameras. They’re so accessible these days. Everyone in the crowd has some cheap little camera and it’s a big problem when you’re in the peloton. So many people are stepping out too far to try and get their shot and it’s treacherous! They seem to forget about where they are standing on the road and how fast the peloton can be travelling.”

Lead continues to grow

04 Jul 12|20:59 PM

There's little interest in chasing from the peloton which is now 8'40" behind the three stage leaders who attacked in the opening kilometer of stage four.

Lead up to 7'20" at 12km

04 Jul 12|20:51 PM

Arashiro, Moncoutie and Delaplace are 7'20" ahead of the peloton as it reaches the 12km mark.

More from RadioShack-Nissan's Gallopin...

04 Jul 12|20:50 PM

“Everyone is there, including Tony (Gallopin), Jens (Voigt) and Popo (Popovych), who are the ones doing the most work," continued Gallopin when talking to LeTour.fr this morning. He was explaining how the RadioShack-Nissan team is approaching the opening stanza of the 2012 Tour. "In fact there were two difficult stages for us, but when the sprinters are involved, it's much more comfortable because we get some support. I think this will be the case today. I do not think we can create a split in the bunch today. In principle, this kind of move is feasible at 50 or 60 kilometers to go, but the sea is a long way from the finish in Rouen. And a split is even more difficult to implement on the Tour that at Paris-Nice, for example. Nevertheless, we remain very vigilant because other teams could try.”

Alain Gallopin: It costs a lot of energy, but it pays well

04 Jul 12|20:48 PM

LeTour.fr spoke with the directeur sportif of the RadioShack-Nissan team, Alain Gallopin earlier today and asked for his take on the cost of spending energy to defend Cancellara’s yellow jersey when they have riders like Fränk Schleck and Andreas Klöden – who have both finished on the podium of the Tour in the past – for the general classification. “Defending the position of Fabian costs a lot of energy,” said Gallopin, “but a yellow jersey in the Tour de France, offers a lot to a team in terms in the publicity stakes. What could stop us is if we had the big favorite in the Tour on our team. Nevertheless, we will certainly take care of Fränk and Andreas and keep something in reserve. They’re working much less than the others. And it's also a way to keep them safe, because while we remain up front they are safe from crashes."

Lead up to 5'00"

04 Jul 12|20:41 PM

At the 8km mark, the peloton is already 5'00" behind Moncoutie, Arashiro and Delaplace.

Arashiro: the virtual leader of the Tour de France

04 Jul 12|20:40 PM

Arashiro's trio is now 4'15" ahead of the peloton. This means that Yukiya-san is the virtual leader of the Tour de France. A little bit of trivia: two riders who are in the escape today raced with the Guidon Sprinter Club Blagnac before turning pro - Arashio (EUC) and Moncoutie (COF).

Arashiro: officially the second Japanese Tour finisher...

04 Jul 12|20:37 PM

In 2009, two Japanese riders made it all the way to Paris in the Tour de France. That was a first for the Asian nation. Fumiyuki Beppu and Yukiya Arashiro were those riders, but Beppu (who now races with the Orica-GreenEdge team, but is not at the Tour in 2012) was the best on GC in 112th place. Arashiro is the rider who instigated the attack today and he finished 129th overall in 2009.

Moncoutie a former stage winner

04 Jul 12|20:33 PM

Of the three men in the lead of stage four, one has previously enjoyed success at the Tour de France. David Moncoutie was the best rider in the Tour of 2002, and was the best Frenchman in that year's race. He has also won stages in the past: in Figeac in 2004 and Digne-les-Bain in 2005. This is the 37-year-old's final season as a pro...

Leaders now 1'40" ahead

04 Jul 12|20:29 PM

Arashiro's escape has been successful. There's been little reaction from the peloton which is now 1'40" behind the three who jumped ahead in the opening kilometer.

Position of escapees on GC

04 Jul 12|20:28 PM

After 608.9km of racing in the 99th Tour de France, the positions of the three escapeess in stage four is: - Yukiya Arashiro (JPN) EUC - 54th overall, at 2'03" - David Moncoutie (FRA) COF - 140th at 10'32" - Anthony Delaplace (FRA) SAU - 148th at 11'07"

Three lead by 45"

04 Jul 12|20:26 PM

Arashiro (EUC) has been joined on the attack by Moncoutie (COF) and Delaplace (SAU). They are now 45" ahead of the peloton.

De koplopers

04 Jul 12|20:25 PM

Yukiya Arashiro uit Japan rijdt voor Europcar. Hij staat 54e op 2'03" van het geel. - David Moncoutie van Cofidis komt uit Frankrijk. Hij won al eens eerder een Touretappe. Hij is 140e op 10'32" van de gele trui. Zijn landgenoot Anthony Delaplace van Saur-Sojasun staat 148e in het algemeen klassement op 11'07" van Cancellara.

Tjallingii out with a broken hip

04 Jul 12|20:25 PM

There were two abandonments in the third stage: Rojas (MOV) and Sivtsov (SKY). The other rider who is no longer in the Tour is Maarten Tjallingii (RAB). "Maarten Tjallingii fractured his left hip due to a crash in the third stage of the Tour de France," reads the team's press release. "The Rabo rider was involved in a big crash in the middle of the peloton at 60 kilometers before the finish. He managed to cross the finish line afterwards. Examination in a hospital concluded on Tuesday evening that it was a ‘clean break’, which enabled him to finish the rest of the stage. "Tjallingii obviously quit the Tour straight away, and was brought to the Meander Medisch Centrum (medical centre) in Amersfoort by the team’s team doctor Dion van Bommel and technical director Erik Breukink. A surgery to the broken hip will follow, possibly immediately."

Arashiro virtueel in het geel

04 Jul 12|20:24 PM

De Japanner Arashiro rijdt na 9km virtueel in de gele trui. De voorsprong van zijn vluchtgroep is 2'35".

Racing in stage four

04 Jul 12|20:23 PM

Arashiro (EUC) is the rider who has attacked as soon as the flag fell to signal the start of stage four. The official start was at 12.22pm. The stage is 214.5km long and goes from Abbeville to Rouen. There are 195 riders in the race.

Prize classification review: part 04 – white jersey

04 Jul 12|20:20 PM

The top three positions of the youth classification are the same after three stages as they were following the race to Seraing on Sunday. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) is still one second ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) and 12” ahead of Rein Taaramae (COF).

Prize classification review: part 03

04 Jul 12|20:17 PM

There are four categorized climbs in stage four, each ranked category-four (thus offering just one point at the top). The leader of the climbing classification is the also the most aggressive rider of the opening stanza of the 99th Tour, Michael Morvkov (STB). “I’m happy to be on the stage every day with the mountain jersey,” said the Dane after stage three before adding: “But I’m well cooked now. Today was a really tough day but I really wanted to fight for the jersey because with the points I’ve earned I can keep it until the real mountains.” He has nine points, seven more than two Liquigas riders: Ivan Basso and Peter Sagan. There are three men with one point each: Urtasun (EUS) who was in the escape of stage one, Gallopin (RNT) who was second over the cat-3 climb at the end of stage three, and Minard (ALM) who claimed a point on the Mont Violette, the first cat-3 climb of the 99th Tour.

Clarification of the rules announced on Radio Tour

04 Jul 12|20:15 PM

Jean-François Pescheux has just made an announcement on Radio Tour to clear up some confusion that may exist about the rule relating to riders crashing or having a mechanical incident in the final 3km of a stage. If someone is held up because of an incident of the race in the final three kilometers, they are given the same time as the group they were with before the incident. But, he clarified, if a team-mate waits for a leader, for example, but was not actually involved in the incident, he will be given the time that his transponder records as he crosses the line...

Geen gevaar voor het klassement

04 Jul 12|20:14 PM

Van het drietal aan kop is David Moncoutie de best geklasseerde. Hij staat 140e op 10'42" van het geel.

Arashiro staat er beter voor

04 Jul 12|20:14 PM

Yukiya Arashiro is de best geklasseerde renner van de vluchters. De Japanner staat op de 54e plek en heeft 2'03" achterstand op Fabian Candellara

Drie koplopers

04 Jul 12|20:13 PM

Arashiro heeft gezelschap gekregen van de Fransen Moncoutie en Delaplace. Ze hebben 45 seconden voorsprong op het peloton.

We rijden!

04 Jul 12|20:12 PM

De starvlag is gevallen en meteen probeert een renner weg te komen. Het is Arashiro.

In de neutrale zone

04 Jul 12|20:12 PM

De 195 renners bevinden zich in de neutrale zone. Fabian Cancellara draagt nog steeds de gele trui. Het groen is voor tweevoudig etappewinnaar Peter Sagan. Michael Morkov heeft de bolletjestrui voor de derde dag om de schouders en de witte trui is voor Tejay van Garderen.

Prize classification review: part 01 – yellow jersey

04 Jul 12|20:11 PM

Not even the succession of hills near the finish of stage three could push Fabian Cancellara out of the yellow jersey. The winner of the prologue will spend his 25th day in the lead of the Tour’s general classification (and his fourth day in 2012 alone). The top order of the overall rankings remains the same as it was after the prologue with the Swiss RadioShack-Nissan rider ahead of Bradley Wiggins (SKY)  by seven seconds, then comes Sylvain Chavanel (OPQ) – also seven second back, then the man in the white jersey as best young rider, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) at 10”. The runner-up in yesterday’s stage, Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) is fourt at 11”. If time bonuses applied like they did until three years ago, Sagan (LIQ) would be in the yellow jersey after his two stage victories, but as it is the Slovakian is ranked 15th overall at 22”.

Rolling through the neutral zone...

04 Jul 12|20:10 PM

Christian Prudhomme's red car is now leading the peloton through the 6.4km neutral zone in front of an enormous crowd in Abbeville which is hosting the start of a Tour stage for the first time today.

Welcome to the live coverage of stage four of the 99th Tour de France

04 Jul 12|20:06 PM

The sun is shining and there's barely a breeze on the day that the peloton of the Tour de France will race from Abbeville to Rouen. The first 140km of the stage will essentially be along the coast but then there's a left turn and the riders will go inland and aim for Rouen, the capital of Normandie. The stage features four climbs, all ranked category-four. They are the côte du Mont Huon (at 38km), the côte de Dieppe (at 69km), the côte de Pourville-sur-Mer (at 74km) and the côte de Toussaint (at 143km). The intermediate sprint is in Fécamp just before the turn inland. The riders will begin rolling at 12.10pm but there is a 6.4km neutral zone before the official start which is expected to be at around 12.25pm.

Welkom bij het verslag van de vierde etappe

04 Jul 12|20:03 PM

De overgebleven renners gaan vandaag van Abbeville naar Rouen. De etappe is 214,5 kilometer lang. Tijdens de rit staan er vier hellingen van de vierde categorie op het programma. De wind kan een rol gaan spelen tijdens het lange stuk langs de kustlijn. Maar als het peloton bij elkaar blijft, is de kans op een massasprint groot. Er zijn nog 17 Nederlanders in koers. Raborenner Maarten Tjallingii gaat vanwege een heupbreuk niet meer van start.