Pogacar marks 100 wins but is still denied yellow jersey

Tadej Pogacar secured his 100th career win on stage four of the Tour de France, after the defending champion narrowly outsprinted the race leader Mathieu van der Poel just before the line in central Rouen.

- Jeremy Whittle

On the brutal, hilly finishing circuit, Pogacar again asserted himself as the rider to beat in the race this year, piling pressure on rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel on the eve of the Tour's first time trial.

Having exploded past Van der Poel in the final metres, Pogacar said all wins were "special" but "100 victories later, it still feels super good to cross the finish line first".

Pogacar and Van der Poel are now tied on overall time, with the Dutchman retaining the yellow jersey on stage result countback. "When I launched my sprint, my legs didn't want to continue," Van der Poel said. "Tadej was the strongest today. It's no shame losing to him on this parcours."

Van der Poel expects to cede the race lead in the 33km time trial around Caen today. "If we are being realistic, tomorrow will be my last day in yellow."

For his part, Pogacar has his eyes fixed firmly on the Olympic time trial champion, Remco Evenepoel, who inflicted a significant defeat on the Slovenian in the time trial stage of the recent Critérium du Dauphiné.