Pedersen sprints to third Tour de France stage win as Traeen seizes yellow jersey

PARIS: Norwegian Torstein Traeen claimed the coveted race leader’s yellow jersey as Denmark’s Mads Pedersen won the fourth stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday.

Traeen stripped reigning champion Tadej Pogacar of the jersey just two days after Norway stunned five-time winner Brazil at the FIFA World Cup, thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland.

Pedersen, the 2019 world champion, stormed to victory in a sprint finish ahead of Lidl-Trek teammate Quinn Simmons in second, with Spaniard Raul Garcia Pierna taking third at the end of the 182km stage from Carcassonne to Foix in scorching temperatures that topped 40°C at one point.

It was Pedersen’s third stage victory at the Tour, following one each in 2022 and 2023, and was enough to see him take the green points jersey.

Traeen, who had started the day just over five minutes behind reigning champion Pogacar in the race lead, was part of an initial 34-man breakaway which formed around 25km into the stage.

That had been whittled down to 10 over the day’s final climb and Traeen came home in eighth.

With the peloton finishing 13 minutes after the stage winner, Traeen now leads the yellow jersey standings by 28 seconds from American Sean Quinn, a fellow breakaway companion who finished ninth on the stage. Agencies

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