Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd sprinted his way to a stage four victory in the 2007 Tour de France on Wednesday.
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland maintained the overall lead, while Hushovd moved into second place, 29 seconds behind Cancellara.
Cancellara is not confident of keeping the yellow jersey. “When I get into the mountains, it’s sure that it’s finished,” Cancellara said.
Danish mountain specialist, and “King of the Mountains” for 2005 and 2006, Michael Rasmussen agrees that the Alps will be a turning point in the race.
“We’ll definitely get some answers on those days,” Rasmussen said. “Already on the Colombiere [La Colombiere Pass], there will be guys from the general classification maybe even dropping or being in trouble.”
French mountain specialist Remy Di Gregorio withdrew from the Tour after fracturing his elbow during stage 4.
STAGE 4 RESULTS:
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thor Hushovd | Crédit Agricole | 4h 37’47″ |
| 2 | Robert Hunter | Barloworld | s.t” |
| 3 | Óscar Freire | Rabobank | s.t” |
| 4 | Erik Zabel | Team Milram | s.t” |
| 5 | Danilo Napolitano | Lampre-Fondital | s.t” |
| 6 | Gert Steegmans | Quick Step-Innergetic | s.t” |
| 7 | Robert Förster | Gerolsteiner | s.t” |
| 9 | Sébastien Chavanel | Française des Jeux | s.t” |
| 10 | Mark Cavendish | T-Mobile Team | s.t” |
[edit] General classification after stage 4
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Thor Hushovd | Crédit Agricole | 29″ |
| 3 | Andreas Klöden | Astana Team | 33″ |
| 4 | David Millar | Saunier Duval-Prodir | 41″ |
| 5 | George Hincapie | Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team | 43″ |
| 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Cofidis | 43″ |
| 7 | Sylvain Chavanel | Cofidis | 44″ |
| 10 | Vladimir Karpets | Caisse d’Epargne | 46″ |
