Armindo Fonseca

Daryl Impey

The peloton revved up its engines and flew across the 237-kilometer course of Stage 4 on the Tour de France, starting in Saumur and finishing in Limoges on the strength of a tailwind. At the end of the day, though, the entire group of 198 riders came safely home again, thwarting the awarding of the Point d’Appui for another day.

On the cusp of the fulcrum were two new riders: Armindo Fonseca of Fortuneo-Vital Concept in 99th place and Daryl Impey of Orica-BikeExchange. Fonseca’s name might be familiar. He was the lone rider on the break for most of Stage 3.

The course was relatively flat but gaining elevation slightly during the first four-fifths of the stage before dropping into Limoges and then kicking up for 500 meters to another photo finish, this time between Marcel Kittel of Etixx-Quick-Step and Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie. Kittel won by mere nanometers.

Peter Sagan remained in the Maillot Jaune and Michael Morkov remained the Lanterne Rouge. Morkov fell another 5 minutes behind the rest of the riders and continues to struggle while trying to heal from his first-stage crash.