Tour de France Stage 4 recap, results, standings: Tadej Pogačar dominates mountains

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar reclaimed the yellow jersey from Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz in dominant fashion on Tuesday, winning Stage 4 of the 2024 Tour de France and establishing himself as the undeniable early favorite to win the 111th edition of the race .

The first mountainous stage of the competition, Stage 4 included an elevation gain of over 11,000 feet through the Alps as cyclists rode 86.7 miles from Pinerolo, Italy, to Valloire, France.  Pogačar’s Team UAE Emirates seized control of the breakaway group as it approached the final summit, and approximately 800 meters from the top, Pogačar made his move. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard made a valiant effort to go with Pogačar but ultimately came up 8 seconds short at the summit of the Col du Galibier.

On the final descent before the finish line, Pogačar sealed his victory as he continued to gain ground on Vingegaard, who was eventually caught by Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) in the final meters of the race.

After his win, Pogačar said that he executed his race plan well.

“This was more or less the plan,” Pogačar said . “It was like a dream stage and I finished it off solo, it's incredible ...I wanted to hit hard today.”

With two Tour de France general classification titles in 2020 and 2021 already under his belt, this victory marked Pogačar’s 12th career Tour de France stage win.  If Tuesday can serve as any indication of how the remainder of the 21 stages will play out, Pogačar seems poised to reclaim the Tour de France crown from Vingegaard, who won the Tour in 2022 and 2023. Vingegaard appears to still be working his way back to full form and confidence on descents after a crash in April hospitalized him for 12 days.

Here's a full look at the 2024 Tour de France standings after four days of competition.

Tour de France Stage 4 results

TOUR DE FRANCE: Recap, results and standings after Stage 3

Tour de France general classification standings after Stage 4

Tour de France jersey standings after Stage 4

• Yellow ( general classification ) : Tadej Pogacar
• Green ( points classification ): Jonas Abrahamsen
• Polka dot ( mountains classification ): Jonas Abrahamsen
• White (young rider classification ): Remco Evenepoel
• Yellow numbers ( teams classification) : UAE Team Emirates
• Golden numbers ( combativity award ): Oier Lazkano

Tour de France Stage 5: How to watch, schedule, and distance

Date: Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Location: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas (France)

Distance: 110 miles (177.5 kilometers)

Type: Flat stage

Streaming: Peacock, FuboTV

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tour de France Stage 4 recap, results, standings: Tadej Pogačar dominates mountains