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Slovenian Primoz Roglic claims Stage 4 win, but remains seconds behind overall leader

By Chuck Gibson (Post race comments provided by Le Tour de France)

INTERNATIONAL  (September 1, 2020) – Primoz Roglic put himself clearly in contention for the overall race win with a furious finish in Orcierres-Merlette, France winning the 4th stage of the 2020 Tour de France.

Roglic’s Stage victory capped a  160.5 km (99.73 mile) ride through “hilly” (most of us would call them mountain ) roads, but still left him trailing the overall leader by a mere 7 seconds after four days of racing. French rider Julian Alaphillipe, stayed close finishing with the second place group (all riders were given same-time at the finish despite some spacing) and maintained the Yellow Jersey as the overall race leader.

“It was quite a fast day and a quite hard stage,” said Roglic. “Again, the guys did a good job for me. I was all the time in a good position. I had a nice speed for the finish. I’m very happy. I’m not in the yellow jersey but that’s a news I have to accept. We stayed safe and the win makes it an even better day. We have to continue like that. It’s nice to be back after the crash at the Dauphiné but I already proved on stage 2 that I was ready for the Tour.”

Indeed Roglic showed he is ready for the Tour with the stage win today. Alaphillipe holds only the 4 second lead over second-place rider Adam Yates from Great Britain, with Roglic in third just 7 seconds behind. The nearest American rider is Sepp Kuss from Colorado – USA, a teammate of Roglic, but 2 minutes and 33 seconds off the lead currently.

“I had the double goal to retain the yellow jersey and to win the stage,” said Alaphillipe. “It would have been special to win a second stage. I have no regret because the team perfectly executed the plan, I gave it all and I’ve been beaten by stronger than me. Moreover, I’m happy with my shape even though it’s hard to compare with last year. We won’t be able to keep that rhythm for three weeks. Soon it won’t be up to us to control the race.”

The race has 21 stages in 23 days with 17 race days remaining and two rest days. Tomorrow, the Stage 5 route will take riders from the start line at Gap 183 km (113 miles)to the finish line at Privas. Stage 1 was Saturday, August 29, and the first “Rest Day” is not until next Monday, September 7.

 Watch for daily updates here on Loveland Beacon.

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