Bryan Coquard takes win for Cofidis at Tour Down Under! Frenchman wins reduced sprint in Victor Harbor

Bryan Coquard is a rider with many pro wins, but his first World Tour triumph only came in 2023 at the Tour Down Under. Today, on stage 4 of the Australian race, the Cofidis rider has won once again after an explosive finale.

The uphill start to the stage saw an interesting group getting formed including GC riders in Mauro Schmid and William Lecerf Junior, ide Schellling, Natnael Tesfatsion and Giosuè Epis. Lecerf would return to the peloton after the intermediate sprints where he went on to win a few seconds, but the group actually did pose some danger.

Over the final climb of the day Schmid went solo and crossed the summit by himself, with a small lead over a reduced peloton. There weren't attacks on the ascent which gave race leader Javier Romo some relief, however after the ascent there were some moves from some GC riders, however they cancelled each other.

The likes of Pablo Torres, Magnus Sheffield and Lewis Askey all attempted in the final hilltop of the stage, but the peloton kept it under control and was relatively big into the final kilometers, although the group didn't feature two-time stage winner Sam Welsford.

The final sprint was truly chaotic, without a set leadout. Phil Bauhaus and Bryan Coquard started their sprint side by side but the veteran Frenchman soared to a stupendous triumph, beating the Bahrain - Victorious rider whilst Jhonatan Narváez sprinted to third at the day, taking more bonus seconds which get him closer to the race lead.