05 July 2022

Tour de France (Stage 4), Hugo Hofstetter 8th

3rd sprint and as many top 10s for Hugo Hofstetter at the beginning of the Tour 2022 as he finishes 8th in Calais. Nairo Quintana has gained one place overall, he is 26th.

 

Photo GettyImages

On the line

 

“The last climb was very steep. Nairo was on my side and I let him take my place in the corner. It cost me a bit of energy, but the goal was really to have him in front, without having to make too big an effort to stay in the chasing group behind Van Aert. On this attack of the yellow jersey, some leaders were caught. Once back on the group of Nairo, I concentrated on the sprint knowing that Van Aert was in front. This massive sprint for 2nd place was once again very fast, with a peak speed of 70 km/h for 30 seconds on my speedometer
“.

“It was another fast and nervous stage, especially the final one that got out of control on the last climb. Fortunately, we were in front at that moment. I arrive with the peloton that finishes on the heels of Van Aert, together with the other riders who are aiming for the overall classification of this Tour de France. Tomorrow’s cobbled stage will certainly be spectacular for the public and the television viewers, but for us riders it will be very intense. I hope that this 5th stage of the Tour will be a good day for all of us“.

Yvon Ledanois, Sport-Director

The debrief’

“The objective was to arrive in Calais without wasting time, without any pitfalls before tomorrow’s big stage on the cobbles, which could be decisive. The riders did what they were asked to do in the morning briefing. Nairo gains one place in the provisional general classification of this Tour de France.  But that wasn’t the goal today. The objective, I would like to stress once again, was not to have any problems and to make Nairo as comfortable as possible in preparation for the Lille-Arenberg stage“.

Riders