Pogi is Back In Polka! 🔴⚪🔴⚪

The Stage is Set and the Tour is on the way 

STAGE 4 Of the Tour Entails the First Stage with quite hilly terrain towards the end of the stage

📏 Distance: 174.2 km
🏔️ Elevation gain: ~2,050 m
🚴 Stage type: Hilly terrain with 5 mid-to-late climbs

Climb Break Down

Climb	Distance to finish	Length & Avg. Gradient	Category
Côte Jacques Anquetil	~50 km	3.5 km at ~3.6%	Cat‑4 (Domestique Cycling)
Côte de Belbeuf	~27 km	1.3 km at ~9.1%	Cat‑3
Côte de Bonsecours	~20 km	0.9 km at ~7.2%	Cat‑4
Côte de la Grand’Mare	~12 km	1.8 km at ~5.0%	Cat‑4
Rampe Saint‑Hilaire	~5 km	0.8 km at ~10.6% (max ~15%)	Cat‑3

 

⏱️ Time Estimate:

• Neutral start: 13:15 CET

• Official start: 13:35 CET 

• Predicted finish: around 17:22–17:30 CET — averaging ~46 km/h → approx. ~4 h 45 min–4 h 55 min of racing 

🚴 Stage 4 (Amiens to Rouen, 174 km) – Blog Base

1. A punchy parcours across Normandy

• The stage was far from flat—riders tackled five categorized climbs in the final 50 km, including the brutal Rampe Saint‑Hilaire (800 m at ~10%) just 5 km from the finish 

• With 2,050 m of vertical gain, this was a classic puncheurs’ day, where teams had to manage crosswinds across the Picardy plains before the decisive hilly finale 

2. Early breakaway tamed by the peloton

• Lenny Martinez spearheaded an early break before soloing ahead, but the main field reeled him in with ~20 km to go

• After some crashes that shook up the pack, UAE Team Emirates (Pogacar’s team) assumed control, setting up the perfect launchpad 

3. Pogacar’s decisive move

• On the final climb, Pogačar launched a searing attack; Vingegaard managed to claw back, but the two favourites had created a gap 

• A small chase group, including MVDP, Evenepoel, Jorgenson, Almeida, and Grégoire, rejoined on the descent, setting up a high-caliber sprint finish 

4. 100th professional win for Pogačar

• In a frantic sprint, MVDP led out first, but Pogačar surged past to claim his 100th career victory in spectacular style 

• Vingegaard crossed next, with MVDP taking runner-up—yet maintaining the yellow jersey due to count-back tiebreakers 

5. General classification shake-up

• The win propelled Pogačar to tie with MVDP on GC time; however, Mathieu Van Der Poel retained the yellow jersey due to better stage placements 

• Vingegaard sits a mere 8 seconds back, and behind them, riders like Jorgenson, Vauquelin, Mas, Onley, Almeida, Evenepoel, and Skjelmose round out the top 10 

6. Sprints Climbers Youth and Team Classification

Classification	Leader	Key Rival(s)
Green	Jonathan Milan – 92 pts	Girmay (87), van der Poel & Pogačar (80)
Polka-dot	Pogačar & Wellens (tied at 5 pts)	Vingegaard (3)
White	Vauquelin (+0:00.26 on GC)	Onley (+0:29), Evenepoel (+0:32)
Team	Visma‑Lease a Bike (+0:44)	Groupama‑FDJ, UAE (+1:34)

Teams Classification

Sprinters Classification

Climbers Classification

7. What lies ahead

• The next challenge is Stage 5: a 33 km individual time trial in Caen—now the perfect opportunity for GC contenders like Vingegaard and Pogačar to make real time gains.