2015 Tour de France: Stage 4 News, Notes and Quotes

Etixx – Quick-Step rider Tony Martin saw his dream of wearing the yellow jersey at the 2015 Tour de France become reality on Tuesday. The German rider launched a late solo attack to win 223.5km Stage 4, taking over the race lead at the Tour de France for the first time in his career.

Martin now leads by 12″ in the overall over Chris Froome (Team Sky). Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) is 3rd, trailing Martin in the overall by 25 seconds.

Martin Wins on Borrowed Bike

Martin launched his attack with 3.3km remaining, but had it not been for the help of his teammates, the dream of Martin may have been impossible. Martin suffered a mechanical in the late kilometers, and on a day with seven cobbled sectors any gap to the peloton could be devastating. However, Matteo Trentin selflessly gave Martin his bike to ride immediately, and Julien Vermote as well as Michal Golas paced Martin back to the group before the last cobbled section at 13km to go. Golas then went full gas to bring Martin to the front.

The whole team rode all day in support of Martin, including riders like Zdenek Stybar and Mark Cavendish on the front of the field. Rigoberto Uran was also present. Michal Kwiatkowski and Mark Renshaw helped as well earlier in the race.

“I wasn’t really thinking about anyone following me when I attacked,” Martin said. “Maybe everyone saw when I had a flat tyre in the last cobbled section. I had to change to Matteo’s bike. Maybe they thought I was more on the limit than what I actually was when I launched in that moment. It’s also possible no one expected such an early attack. I think inside 4 kilometers to go everyone was on their hands and knees. It was just the right moment for me to try my chance. I found some extra power. I got a good gap. I knew this finale really well. I was here before for training for two days. I did 180 kilometers of the stage, I knew every little detail. I knew if I could make it to the last kilometer, which was a little more technical with the cobbles and the hard left hand turn, I would have a chance.”

“Crossing the line in first, knowing I won the stage but also that I got yellow, makes me super happy that I can give everything back to the team that they gave me in the last days. I am also proud to wear this yellow jersey for Germany. I was proud to wear my German TT Champion jersey in the opening time trial, and now I can show the German fans something else special with my GC lead. ”

John Degenkolb Takes Bunch Sprint

With Martin taking a runaway win, it was a sprint for second place, and Martin’s compatriot john Degenkolb was the strongest in the closing meters.

Degenkolb wasn’t really happy with his result: “I am extremely disappointed. It’s nice that another German wins but I wanted to win here myself. Everything went perfect today only the victory was missing.”

Coach Marc Reef reflected: “It’s really disappointing. We rode an excellent race, constantly well positioned and did everything right until 1.5km to go. Eventually that final bit was lacking today in the finale and we didn’t got the win.he others did a great job to bring them in position.

“A second place is the most unrewarding result and John [Degenkolb] is incredibly disappointed. A big opportunity is gone and we have to process another setback.”

Third for Sagan After Team Effort

Peter Sagan managed to grab 3rd place behind stage winner Tony Martin after having dedicated his energy to the overall team objective and protecting team leader Alberto Contador.

“I am in the team with Alberto and that is important to understand,” said Sagan. “I did my very best to help him and make sure that I did my part in keeping him in the first group. Then I was almost dropped from the first group after I had closed a gap but I was able to recover a bit for the final sprint. But I didn’t expect that I could finish 3rd, as I had spent a lot of energy. I’m very happy with the result today, as I spent much energy and I’m glad that Alberto got through the stage in a nice way – this is the most important.”

BMC Racing’s Avermaet Takes Fourth

BMC Racing Team’s Greg Van Avermaet finished fourth on Tuesday’s stagewhile teammate Tejay van Garderen held onto his third place overall.

Van Garderen finished 24th and in the same time as 34 others in a group that was chasing solo winner Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step). The longest stage of the three-week event included seven sectors of cobblestones comprising 13.3 km of the 223.5-km race.

Van Avermaet, the third-place finisher in April in the cobbled classic of Paris-Roubaix, said it was a nervous day.

“Going into every cobblestone section, there was a fight for positioning because everybody wanted to have their leader in front.,” Van Avermaet said. “We kept it pretty good in the front. We were always there, always ahead of the situation. I think we did a good job. I would have preferred to have have won the stage, but Martin chose a good moment.”