"When we sit together at the table tonight, we'll do a high five" - Annemiek van Vleuten happy with stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes

The 2023 Tour de France Femmes saw another exciting day of racing on stage 4 as Yara Kastelijn soloed to a stunning breakaway victory. In the GC battle behind, Annemiek van Vleuten lost a handful of seconds to Demi Vollering but the Movistar Team leader maintains it was a good day.

"It was actually a good day, I think. We tested each other well. We have now entertained the TV viewer a bit in the final. I think it was a nice finale, with some action. Not that I do it for that, but when I think back, it was nice,” she says post-race. “We had a plan, we wanted to put pressure on things, just before the bonus sprint. That went well. I was safe and in control."

With Kastelijn way off ahead, Vollering won the sprint behind to take the second on the day and grab some bonus seconds with Anouska Koster finishing third, denying van Vleuten the chance to get any bonuses of her own.

"When we sit together at the table tonight, we'll do a high five, because we played the team plan well. It may not have delivered what we wanted, but we got through the day safely. It's quite punchy here, of course, and that's not really my thing. Demi only takes a few seconds at the finish,” she explains as Lotte Kopecky maintains the overall race lead. “Kopecky was not dangerous for us. Maybe she doesn't have very good legs on the Tourmalet, but she's a little less of a danger for the standings.”