Traeen takes yellow, Pedersen wins Tour de France 4th stage

Norwegian Torstein Traeen claimed the coveted race leader’s yellow jersey as Denmark’s Mads Pedersen won the fourth stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday.

Traeen stripped reigning champion Tadej Pogacar of the jersey just two days after Norway stunned five-time winners Brazil at the World Cup thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland.

Pedersen, who was world champion in 2019, stormed to victory in a sprint finish ahead of Lidl-Trek team-mate Quinn Simmons in second with Spaniard Raul Garcia taking third at the end of the 182km stage from Carcassonne to Foix in scorching temperatures which topped 40C at one point.

It was Pedersen’s third stage victory at the Tour following one each in 2022 and 2023 and was enough to see him take the green points jersey.

Traeen, who had started the day just over five minutes behind reigning champion Tadej Pogacar in the race lead, was part of an initial 34-man breakaway which formed around 25km into the stage.

That had been whittled down to 10 over the day’s final climb and Traeen came home in eighth.

With the peloton finishing 13 minutes after the stage winner, Traeen now leads the yellow jersey standings by 28 seconds from American Sean Quinn, a fellow breakaway companion who finished ninth on the stage.

Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek team-mate Mathias Vacek, who finished the stage 10th, is now third overall at 3min 50sec and now leads the young rider’s white jersey competition.

Pogacar dropped to fourth at 7min 53sec, on the same time as his arch rival Jonas Vingegaard in fifth.

For Traeen, 30, it will be the second time he has led a Grand Tour, having worn the leader’s red jersey at last year’s Vuelta a Espana for four days.

He is the third Norwegian to wear the Tour’s yellow jersey after Thor Hushovd, who is now Traeen’s Uno-X Mobility team manager, did so in 2004, 2006 and 2011, and Alexander Kristoff, who held it for one day in 2020.