Tour de France 2018 | Stage 4 | La Baule – Sarzeau

With World Cup fever gripping France it was somehow appropriate on the day of the semi-final between France and Belgium that two Frenchmen and two Belgians formed the four-man break on stage four of the Tour.

In this episode of The Cycling Podcast Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and François Thomazeau soak up the festival atmosphere in Brittany and recap the stage, which was won by Colombian Fernando Gaviria after the break was caught in the nick of time.

We hear from Gaviria’s sports director Brian Holm, who was unhappy that other teams did not assist the chase, and Tim Declercq, who did so much work for Quick Step on the front of the peloton.

There were crashes again, of course, and we spoke to Rigoberto Uran’s sports director Charly Wegelius about how they ensured their team leader rejoined the peloton after his fall close to the finish.

A year ago, on the equivalent stage – stage four to Vittel – Guillaume van Keirsbulck was in the break all day. He was one of the quartet who escaped today and we spoke to him about his day out in front.

Plus we assess the simmering war of words between UCI president David Lappartient and Team Sky’s boss Dave Brailsford following the resolution of Chris Froome’s salbutamol case and cover all the other talking points from the day.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science In Sport