Results Tour of Slovakia 2026 Stage 4 - Magnier denied third stage win as early breakaway dramatically holds off peloton bunch sprint
CyclingSaturday, 19 September 2026 at 17:07
Erik Fetter took a surprise win on Saturday's fourth stage of the Tour of Slovakia as the day's early breakaway held off the peloton. What looked certain to offer the sprinters a chance of stage glory, five breakaway riders held on to fight for stage honours amongst themselves.
After Lennart van Eetvelt's attacking move on Friday broke Paul Magnier's resistance for a third stage win in a row at the race, the Frenchman knew that the parcours very much suited him on Saturday. Stage 4 was almost 198 kilometers in distance but offered little in the way of climbing as the sprinter's teams knew they could well have their day.
The day kicked off with the breakaway forming quickly with 174 kilometres to go. Filippo Agostinacchio, Anze Skok, Max Neilson, Erik Fetter and Kacper Maciejuk were among those working well together.
The day settled into a rhythm as Soudal-Quick-Step controlled the tempo for the day's favourite in Magnier, with the break's gap extending over two minutes.
Paul Magnier, Soudal Quick-Step star.
Magnier and Soudal chase for a bunch sprint
But the chase behind was consistent and the five attackers didn't look likely to hold on, as their gap came down consideribly as the race reached the business end with 20 kilometers to go in a largely uneventful middle portion of the race.
With 120 kilometers to go, their lead stood at just 49 seconds as they crossed the finish line for just one lap of a closing circuit, which was almost pan flat except for a slight one percent drag to the finish line in the final kilometer.
However, the breakaway remained stubborn, even holding a 19 second gap as the race hit two kilometers to go. Agostinacchio would soon attack his break compatriots as the peloton closed in. The Italian would go solo in a dramatic late attempt.
In a tense and nerve-wracking final kilometer, Agostinacchio was caught by the four other breakaway riders, Nielson launched a sprint but it was Fetter who came around and took a dramatic win - denying his breakaway rivals and the peloton.
Results Tour of Slovakia 2026 Stage 4
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- oh, and one more thing - BTW I’m not a guy that is demeaning towards women. I have a wife, same woman for 23 years, 2 daughters in college. all are beautiful, and that is not just my eyes. they really are. and accomplished. studying for medicine, 2nd aerospace engineering, and my wife has an MBA from University of Chicago. look that up, it is legit. so I showed this to my wife thread to my wife and she rolled her eyes at the comments of men on here. she said Sweeney also created a lingerie line, VERY AFFORDABLE, and she did it because too many curvy women have a hard time finding good fitting undergarments at a fair price. she wanted something for these body types. which, is a body type 2 of the 3 women in my life have. so, this lady is being criticized by women for not being empowering, while she takes her own risk to create something for women that have nothing, or less than ideal. and she is doing it at an affordable price point rather than taking advantage of her fame. the line is called SYRN I think, and it is designed so curvy women can be comfortable and not have to spend an arm and a leg. seems fairly empowering towards women to me.mij19-09-2026
- so maybe before looking at someone and criticizing them based on looks alone, do some research and understand the human. She was considered a favorite for wakeboarding in the X games. She was a high school athlete, not necessarily a stand out, but she was considered athletic. early in her time in hollywood she also fought MMA, winning events, and even beat mean. I am not an MMA fan, but it is a tough sport. you don’t compete in this and win, and not be athletic.mij19-09-2026
- if it was written about the UK, I would still question it. if you are showing 14 rankings, and someone is at 10, then how is that a powerhouse? granted there are 80 or so countries on the planet. so 10/80 is really good. but most of the other countries don’t field a team. so I again question how 10/14 makes them a “powerhouse”mij19-09-2026
- did you see my other post? does anyone that looks at this video, and formed an opinion on looks alone realize: 1 - she was an athlete. she was considered a front runner for the wakeboard in the X games. wakeboarding is super tough actually, takes a lot of athleticism. 2 - she gave it up to become an actress, an award winning actress. you do not get that on looks alone. hollywood is littered with beautiful failures. she gave up being perhaps tops in one area to rise to the top of another. 3 - she was valedictorian of her high school class, #1. she taught herself russian, was on the math and robotics club. 4 - she wanted to be an actress by the age of 13. how many 13 year olds have accomplished their life long goal, with such success? you don’t do that with looks alone. 5 - she is worth $50 million. again, the internet is filled with more beautiful people that are worth $50. you don’t get to be worth this kinda money being stupid, or on looks alone. I have never seen a sydney sweeney movie or tv show. I am not a super fan of her. but, before posting something critical, and making that post based on LOOKS ALONE IN A VIDEO - I do some research. as for Demi, she uses her body to make money. and says women should be empowered and be seen as more than just a hottie. well if Sydney was ugly and did 1 - 5 above, what would Demi write about her??? she would be a hero. her comment is ignorant and pugnacious. Sydney can’t help she looks the way she does. if we are not supposed to hold someone’s looks against them based on skin color, “ugliness”, weight (lol PFP), etc, why is she doing so because she is beautiful???mij19-09-2026
- exactly, looks are not a talent. if they were all of the women you mentioned would be more accomplished that Sydney. and again, you are judging her on looks alone. so progressive of you. maybe do some research on someone before you form an opinion just by looking at them.mij19-09-2026
- I disagree with your opinion you cannot prevent objectification and almost every study and experiment goes in the same sense. The less you are exposed to a certain type of behaviour the less you will imitate it. If advertising, media, pop stars, hollywood, celebrities , heroes, politicians, leaders, etc. adopt certain behaviour and not others, a large portion of the population tends to be influenced in a similar direction. Very few people continuously fight against the current. Every time you show something borderline or controversial is ok or « normal » you normalise it. 30 years ago, people would have been shocked to hear some of the language used by all these people today, now it’s mostly just annoying, and only for older generations, nobody even pays attention to avoid it in front of small kids. Today it’s any tiktok challenge that turns viral 20y ago it was thongs sticking out of jeans, now in many places its preteens are tanning themselves with strings at the pool and beach and nobody blinks an eye except the guy in the bushes with glasses and trenchcoat. 60 years ago, it was how (mostly) women dressed. 150 years ago it was slavery We are all influenced by what we are shownJumpyjohn19-09-2026
- you are aware of her intellectual capabilities? you look at her and assume because of her looks she isn’t smart??? wow, that is really prejudicial of you. there are hot women all over the internet worth about $50. She is worth $50 million. You don’t become worth $50 million with a nice body alone. Are you aware she graduated # 1 in her high school class, valedictorian? but you call her not smart. She was on the math club, robotics club, and taught herself Russian as she wanted to learn another language. she has won acting awards; you don’t get to be a good actor by being stupid. as for the athletic comments people have made about her, she was considered a candidate for the X games in wakeboarding. That takes a tremendous amount of skill. WTF have you done with your life? Where did you graduate in high school? what are you known for besides being a troll on a cycling site lol. it isn’t that I’m in the Sydney Sweeney fan club. I’ve never seen her perform. It is just amazing to me that a beautiful young lady, that is smart, accomplished, wealthy and frankly hasn’t done anything wrong is told by ladies that preach empowerment that she is not empowered to legally make money with her body. even though let’s be honest, the only reason Demi makes money, is because she has a body that allows her to do so.mij19-09-2026
- I’m sure Jurgen is loving this article. PL doesn’t even stop with riders.mij19-09-2026
- yeah I was waiting to see what was going to happen. allegedly at the time Remco and his camp was very against the merger.mij19-09-2026
- I think you’re mixing up things which aren’t really relatedJumpyjohn19-09-2026
Loading
Write a comment