Colombian rising star takes Stage 4
Second stage victory in this event after outdueling world champion
SARZEAU, France — Fernando Gaviria and Peter Sagan have turned the first four days of the Tour de France into an enthralling duel of rising star versus world champion.
And Tour newcomer Gaviria is winning so far.
Gaviria edged Sagan at the finish line to claim Stage 4 Tuesday and take his second stage win in his first participation at cycling’s greatest race.
Garviria, 23, of Colombia, already had bettered Sagan in a sprint to take the opening stage, amid rising expectations since his four stage victories at the 2017 Giro d’Italia.
Sagan hit back by winning Stage 2 in an uphill sprint after Gaviria had fallen in a group pileup on the final corner.
The flat leg Tuesday with its 4-kilometer finish — the longest straightaway to conclude a leg on this Tour— was perfect terrain for the budding rivals to break the tie.
After Quick-Step hunted down the breakaway to set up Gaviria, he powered ahead of the pack with handlebars swinging and crossed just inches ahead of Sagan and Andre Greipel in a close third.
Sagan was closing fast and seemed to be on pace to overtake him just when Gaviria hit the line.
“He is faster than me,” said Sagan, a three-time defending world champion who excels in finishes on slight ascents.
“We will see. Maybe I will wait for some mistake [to beat him]. And maybe we will see the next days on the climbs. Every stage is different, every sprint is different.”
Gaviria finished the 121mile leg from La Baule to Sarzeau that started and finished on the Atlantic coast in 4 hours,25 minutes, 1 second.
“It was a very difficult sprint, but we knew how to pull it off,” Gaviria said. “We didn’t receive any help from the other teams to bring the breakaway back, but at the end my team deserves this victory and we can go to the hotel very happy with what we achieved.”
Defending champion Chris Froome of Sky, who remained 55 seconds back due to his fall in Stage 1, finished safely in the pack with leader Greg Van Avermaet.