Fernando Gaviria and Peter Sagan have turned the first four days of the Tour de France into an enthralling duel of rising star versus world champion. And Tour newcomer Gaviria is winning so far.
Gaviria edged Sagan at the finish line to claim Stage 4 on Tuesday and take his second stage win in his first participation at cycling’s greatest race.
“I still got second, and second is better than third. I’m happy to keep the green jersey,” Sagan said. “I need better legs. But every stage is different and every sprint is different. He’s faster than me but that’s OK.
“The wind was a big issue today, and maybe it would have been better if I was on the wheel of Andre (Greipel), but I can’t complain. I didn’t crash, and we’re all healthy in the team.”
“We didn’t pull today, just a little bit in the final. The breakaway was strong and they did a good job at the front”.
“We’ll see, maybe we wait for a mistake,” he said. “We will see over the next days with the climbs.”
The Tour works its way east before hitting the feared cobblestones of Stage 9 and then heading south and into the mountains.
