"It resembled a Tour de France stage two weeks into the race" - Wiggins on brutal breakaway day as Armstrong explains Pogacar’s strategy and sends warning
Cycling
The fourth stage of the Tour de France offered a breather for the GC favourites, yet it did not go unnoticed by The Move’s analysts. Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Bradley Wiggins, and Spencer Martin agreed it was a tactical masterclass from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who handed over the yellow jersey without surrendering control of the race and allowed Uno-X to enjoy a historic moment.
Although the stage win went to Mads Pedersen after he prevailed from the break, much of the debate centred on Pogacar and his team’s decision to relinquish the lead in the general classification. For Armstrong, the move was flawless and crucial for the rest of a race where energy must always be conserved.
“Today they rode a textbook race by gifting the jersey,” he summed up when assessing the Emirati squad’s performance on his podcast The Move.
The episode’s main guest was Johan Bruyneel, who explained why he believes UAE did exactly what was required. “I think they created the ideal scenario,” said the former sports director.
Bruyneel recalled that in the opening kilometres the team kept the break under control, holding the gap around two to three minutes so as not to reveal their intentions too early. However, once the move was established and the most dangerous riders for the stage were up the road, they completely changed strategy.
Torstein Traeen, leader of the Tour de France
Pogacar and UAE change strategy
“Initially they kept it at two or three minutes and everyone thought they wanted to defend the jersey. Then they let them go,” he explained.
For the Belgian, that decision will allow Pogacar to avoid the burden of controlling the peloton for several days, while another team absorbs the daily workload.
Throughout the conversation, Armstrong drew numerous parallels with previous Tours. The American noted how dominant teams have long used this tactic to shift responsibility onto another outfit, letting a rider with no real chance of winning the race wear yellow for several days.
Bruyneel even compared it to their experience in 2004 with Thomas Voeckler: “It was practically the same,” he said. “We gave him a gift and then his team buried themselves to keep the jersey.”
In his view, Uno-X could play exactly that role through much of the first week.
How long can Uno-X hold out
The show’s big question was precisely how long Thorsten Traeen can stay in yellow. Armstrong stressed that the Norwegian is no ordinary rider. He recalled that Traeen finished in the top ten at the last Vuelta a España and also carries one of the peloton’s most emotional stories after overcoming testicular cancer detected during anti-doping controls.
“He’s completely recovered and now he’s in yellow. It’s an incredible story,” he said.
Bruyneel was even more optimistic about his chances: “I think he’ll keep the jersey at least until the Tourmalet,” he predicted.
He even left open the possibility that the Uno-X leader could remain in front of the classification for more than a week if he handles the first major mountain days convincingly.
Bradley Wiggins, stunned by a stage with second-week intensity
While the strategic spotlight fell on UAE, Bradley Wiggins highlighted the outstanding collective work by Lidl-Trek. The Briton called the team’s ride a genuine tactical lesson after placing three riders in the breakaway.
“The way they got those three riders into the move was a masterclass,” he explained.
According to Wiggins, the key came when Mattias Vacek attacked from distance, forcing the rest of the break to chase while Quinn Simmons and Mads Pedersen stayed sheltered.
That move allowed the American team to reach the finale with a clear tactical advantage. For the Briton, the stage was madness: “Just watching it today, it resembled a Tour de France stage two weeks into the race where the GC's pretty much decided and we saw a big break go and it's day four, day four of the tour."
He added: "A lot of tired legs out there and we saw on the cameras people getting dropped from the break, people getting dropped from the peloton, but tough, tough start to the race."
Lidl-Trek’s superb team effort at the Tour de France
Quinn Simmons, the standout performer
One of the names drawing the most praise was Quinn Simmons. Bradley Wiggins picked him as the “move of the day” for the huge sacrifice he made for Pedersen.
“I can’t help but think that if he were on another team, he’d be winning this kind of stage,” he said.
George Hincapie fully agreed with that assessment. He explained that Simmons set exactly the pace Pedersen needed on the decisive climb, never pushing beyond his teammate’s limits. “He did 80% of the work over the last 45 or 50 kilometers,” he noted.
For Hincapie, the American mentally wore down his rivals even before the sprint. “They were thinking: ‘How are we going to drop Quinn and then still beat Mads in the sprint?’”.
Spencer Martin actually chose the Dane as his rider of the day. He admitted he didn’t expect to see him clear such a demanding ascent and then win convincingly at the finish. “I can’t believe he held on over that climb,” he confessed.
Bruyneel added that much of the credit belonged precisely to Quinn Simmons. He explained that the American metered the effort so Pedersen never went into the red, even allowing some rivals a few meters before calmly reeling them back in.
Armstrong sees a Tour far tougher than expected
Another point that stood out on the show was the brutal difficulty of the Tour’s start. Armstrong said stage 4 looked more like a race already past its halfway mark.
“It felt like a Tour stage two weeks after the start,” he remarked, echoing Wiggins’ view.
The American noted riders were already getting dropped from both the break and the bunch, despite only four days of racing. For him, the high temperatures and the aggressive racing are accelerating the peloton’s fatigue.
Jonas Vingegaard, entrando en meta en el Tour de Francia
Pogacar’s calm
In that context, Armstrong argued, UAE’s decision was even more valuable. While other teams keep piling up kilometers on the front to defend the lead, Pogacar can bank energy for the truly decisive moments. Bruyneel felt the Emirati squad barely had to spend riders today.
“They really only used two riders,” he explained. The rest of the team could largely save strength for the mountain stages coming in the next few days.
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Although stage 4 didn’t change gaps among the main GC contenders, The Move argued it did show which teams are reading the race best. Lidl-Trek turned a large break into a win with an impeccable strategy, while UAE Team Emirates-XRG found the perfect way to shed the yellow jersey without losing control of the Tour.
For Armstrong, the day leaves an obvious takeaway: Pogacar remains the man to beat, and now he also has a team that seems to manage every stage with absolute precision. And if his rivals already had their hands full just following the world champion’s wheel, they now must also find a way to counter a UAE that, as Bruyneel put it, “has created the ideal scenario” to control the race over the coming days.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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