DISCUSSION - Tour de France Stage 4 - Why didn’t Pogacar and Vingegaard want to chase? Who gained and who lost from the breakaway?

Mads Pedersen ended a frustrating spring campaign in the best possible fashion by claiming victory on Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de France. The Lidl-Trek leader completed a perfectly executed team performance in Foix after receiving outstanding support from Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons. It was also a memorable day for Torstein Traeen, who moved into the overall lead and claimed the yellow jersey.

The 181.9 kms stage from Carcassonne to Foix was always expected to favour the attackers, featuring the Col de Coudons and Col de Montségur before a long downhill run to the finish. Riders also faced another major challenge as temperatures climbed close to 40°C throughout the afternoon.

Following an aggressive opening, a breakaway of 34 riders eventually formed. The group included Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons, Mathias Vacek, Michael Valgren, Kévin Vauquelin, Jasper Stuyven, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Jasper Philipsen, Ramses Debruyne, Michael Matthews, Biniam Girmay, Pablo Castrillo, Ion Izagirre, Quinten Hermans, Romain Grégoire, Frank van den Broek and Alex Molenaar.

Alex Molenaar made the most of the early climbs by collecting valuable mountain points, reducing his deficit to polka-dot jersey holder Alex Baudin. Behind the break, the peloton, led primarily by Nils Politt, allowed the gap to grow to around four minutes.

At the intermediate sprint in Quillan, Biniam Girmay claimed maximum points ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Pedersen before the race became significantly harder on the slopes of the Col de Coudons.

As the climbing intensified, both Girmay and Philipsen were dropped from the front group. Mathias Vacek then attacked alongside Jan Tratnik, with Alex Kirsch later bridging across to create a leading trio. Meanwhile, the break's advantage stretched beyond seven minutes, making Torstein Traeen the virtual race leader.

The trio's move came to an end on the Col de Montségur, where the remaining breakaway riders regrouped. Pablo Castrillo, Iván García Pierna and Ramses Debruyne all launched attacks on the climb, but Quinn Simmons consistently shut down every acceleration to keep Lidl-Trek firmly in control.

A select group of ten riders emerged over the summit and headed towards Foix together. Despite several late attacks, Lidl-Trek never lost control of the situation, with Vacek and Simmons taking turns neutralising every move.

That left Pedersen with the perfect lead-out into the final sprint, and the former world champion made no mistake. The Dane comfortably powered to victory, completing a textbook display of teamwork from Lidl-Trek.

Although Pedersen celebrated the stage victory, Torstein Traeen was another major winner of the day. Thanks to the large advantage gained by the breakaway, the Norwegian moved into the overall lead and earned the right to wear the yellow jersey heading into Stage 5.

Carlos Silva from CyclingUpToDate shared his thoughts on today's stage, and it got me thinking. I don't usually enjoy this kind of approach to a race.

On one hand, I love seeing teams with fewer chances of winning a stage commit to the breakaway and fight for glory. That's one of the best parts of cycling. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of seeing the peloton ride at what feels like a training pace.

That said, if I put myself in the UAE Team Emirates car, their decision makes perfect sense. They didn't have anyone in the break, yet Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch spent a long time setting the pace at the front of the peloton. The problem was that they weren't getting any help, even though there were other teams in exactly the same situation, with no riders in the breakaway either.

They controlled the gap for a while, but eventually they reached the obvious conclusion: if nobody else is willing to work, why should we? It's a simple calculation. They would only burn their own riders without any real interest in winning the stage. They had the yellow jersey, but as we've seen before, they weren't desperate to keep it at all costs.

As a result, Torstein Traeen inherited the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar, and there's a good chance he'll be wearing it for quite some time.

Lidl-Trek, on the other hand, were outstanding today. But it's also true that the strongest climbers in the breakaway never went all in to drop Mads Pedersen. Even with Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons as alternative options, the team's main objective was clearly to bring Pedersen to the finish in a position to fight for the stage.

Their one-two finish was fully deserved. At the same time, I also think it would have been a deserved victory if Pablo Castrillo or Raúl García Pierna had won. They were the two riders who refused to give up and attacked time and time again.

Yesterday, I saw plenty of people saying that this Tour already had a predictable script. Today, the breakaway rewrote that story and may have opened the door to a completely different race.

Traeen has shown in the past that he's not one of the world's elite riders, but he is incredibly difficult to crack. Now the question is simple: who will take the yellow jersey from him, and when?

According to Ruben Silva of CyclingUpToDate, it was an intense day, with emotions reaching a fever pitch.

A true masterclass is the simplest way of putting it. Lidl-Trek have one of the best teams in the world, not in the pure sense of climbers, but overall, they have great riders. You see a Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek, they are both perfect all-rounders for such a day and I believe both could've won if Pedersen was not in the breakaway. These two riders were both singled out already before the Tour because both rode at an incredible level, and they are two jack-of-all-trades that just fit the team perfectly.

Vacek continues to show he is one of the very best domestiques in the world and has sacrificed another triumph for Mads Pedersen, who at this point has tried so hard to return the favour, and I believe they can successfully do it at this Tour. And Simmons was so strong on the climbs, and even sprinted to second on the day. How could you possibly go through this 'wall'? You could not.

But they would not have won unless Pedersen himself was on his very best legs, because that final climb was ridden very hard and there were proper strong climbers up front at their peak form. The way the Lidl-Trek men controlled the climb, pulled Pedersen back to the front and then covered every single (and they were plenty) dangerous attack in that finale is a perfect display of collective power that resulted in an incredible win. Pedersen is a deserved winner, but so would any of the other two Lidl men.

On the other side we've also seen the GC change up, with Tadej Pogacar and UAE understandably letting the breakaway run away with a dozen minutes. They do not need to chase, it makes no difference to their final result, and they give away the yellow jersey to rivals, which frees up valuable recovery time for the defending champion.

I'm happy to see such a pure and exciting breakaway stage so early on, with so many of the best stage hunters in the world going all-out, showing their face and truly racing, for the second day in a row for a breakaway.

Often we now see teams simply not try anything in the first week of Grand Tours, but this Tour is off to an amazing start in my eyes. We've got a tight and nice GC fight, great breakaway battles and the victories are being distributed by riders who are worthy of these triumphs. Today, a big kudos to Lidl-Trek, who have truly rode in the best way they can.

Pascal Michiels of RadsportAktuell was full of praise for the North American team's performance and shared his thoughts on what unfolded on the road at the end of the day.

Some stage wins feel like a moment of inspiration. Mads Pedersen’s victory was different. It was the result of strength, control and ice-cold teamwork. Lidl-Trek did not simply win today’s Tour de France stage. The team read the race, shaped it and, in the end, almost decided it at will.

For German cycling fans in particular, this performance was especially interesting. Lidl-Trek has long been more than just Mads Pedersen’s team. With its German connection, clear identity and aggressive racing style, the squad is increasingly developing into one of the most exciting projects in the peloton.

The stage to Foix was no gift for a classic sprinter. Heat, nervous roads and a finale that was difficult to control made the day complicated. That was exactly where Lidl-Trek showed its strength. While other teams reacted, Lidl-Trek took responsibility. Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek did not merely work for Pedersen; they built him the road to victory.

Pedersen finished off what his teammates had prepared. That is exactly what made this success so powerful. It was not the result of a chaotic sprint, but of a plan that worked all the way to the final meter. Simmons finishing second further underlined just how dominant Lidl-Trek were on the day. This was not a one-man victory. It was a show of force in team colors.

For Pedersen, this triumph is another argument that he is one of the most valuable riders in modern cycling. He is fast, tough and strong enough to sprint even when many pure sprinters have already reached their limit. For Lidl-Trek, however, the victory is almost even more significant: it shows that the team is not merely taking part in this Tour, but is capable of actively shaping it.

At the end of the stage, Jorge Borreguero of CiclismoAlDia shared his thoughts on what he witnessed during the first stage held entirely on French soil.

The fourth stage of the 2026 Tour de France delivered exactly the kind of racing that fans love to watch. After three days in which the overall favourites fought for every second, UAE Team Emirates - XRG chose not to control the race and allowed a breakaway packed with quality riders to battle for the stage win. It was a logical, intelligent decision that resulted in a far more entertaining stage.

Mads Pedersen once again showed why he is one of the most complete riders in the peloton. He was alert enough to make the break, survived a demanding day and finished the job with a prestigious victory in Foix. Whenever a stage becomes selective and the outcome is decided from a reduced group, the Dane is almost always among the strongest.

Torstein Traeen also deserves plenty of recognition. The Norwegian took full advantage of the freedom given by the peloton to claim the yellow jersey, a huge reward for Uno-X Mobility and for a rider who continues to prove he knows how to seize opportunities like this in Grand Tours.

From a Spanish perspective, it was a very positive day for Movistar Team. Raúl García Pierna finished third thanks to the excellent work of Pablo Castrillo, and together they showed the ambition, aggression and willingness to attack that fans so often ask for. The victory did not come because the level of the breakaway was exceptionally high, but it is hard to criticise a team that races with that mindset.

Finally, Tadej Pogacar's race management also deserves praise. The Slovenian understood that this was not the day to waste energy, gave up the race lead without putting his real Tour ambitions at risk, and allowed other teams to fight for the stage victory. With the mountains still to come, it looks like a smart decision that could leave him even stronger for the stages that will truly decide the Tour.

All four perspectives arrive at the same conclusion from different angles: Stage 4 was won through intelligence as much as strength. While the spotlight naturally falls on Mads Pedersen, the common thread is that Lidl-Trek's collective performance was the decisive factor. From the early breakaway to the final climb, the team executed its plan almost flawlessly, turning a demanding day into one of the most complete displays of teamwork seen so far in this Tour.

There is also broad agreement that the race itself benefited from UAE Team Emirates - XRG's tactical restraint. Rather than defending the yellow jersey at all costs, the defending champions chose to conserve energy and allow the breakaway to fight for victory. The move not only made for a far more entertaining stage but also underlined the long-term approach required to win a three-week Grand Tour, with Tadej Pogacar sacrificing the race lead without compromising his overall ambitions.

Beyond the stage winner, the day's biggest winners were the attacking riders. Torstein Traeen's move into the yellow jersey, Movistar Team's aggressive approach, and the relentless racing from the 38-man breakaway reinforced the idea that the 2026 Tour de France has started in spectacular fashion. If the opening week continues in this vein, fans can expect a race defined not only by the battle for the general classification but also by teams willing to seize every opportunity on offer.