As it happened: Sprinter has a field day in Victor Harbor on Tour Down Under stage 4

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 4, from Glenelg to Victor Harbor, of the Tour Down Under. The stage starts at 11:10am local time or 12:30am GMT and finishes roughly four hours later.

Stage 3 winner Javier Romo (Movistar) tops the general classification with 8 seconds on stage 3 runner-up Jhonathan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG). Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) is third, and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) fourth, both tied at 10 seconds.

Fourth in yesterday’s stage, Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) is 15 seconds down on GC and took the lead in the best young rider classification.

Double stage winner Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) leads the points classification. Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) went in the break three days in a row and has a unsurmountable lead in the mountains classification

Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under is set to start in under 10 minutes. At 157.2km, today’s stage is the longest of the 2025 Tour Down Under. Starting in Glenelg, the course follows the scenic coastline with two intermediate sprints before the first of two classified ascents. If riders' legs are in pain from Knott's Hill, they'll be feeling more of a sting when they hit Parawa Hill and Nettle Hill. An uncategorised ascent with 12.2km to go complicates the picture for the sprinters. This could be a great day for a breakaway.

The 136 riders are off for the 7.9km neutral zone. 

One rider missing from the start is Martín López who crashed with 15km to go on stage 3. He was taken to the hospital and his XDS Astana team reported that he was fully conscious and cooperative, feels good. The latest update reported that López was diagnosed with a mild concussion and facial trauma. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

Perfect weather today, with current temperatures of 20C, and partly cloudy.

Lots of chatter and smiles in the peloton as they ride close to the team directeur car in the neutral zone.

Today’s Glenelg start and Victor Harbor finish also featured during the race’s first edition in 1999 – a stage won in emphatic style by Tour Down Under race director Stuart O’Grady. 

Speaking of O’Grady, flag drop from the man himself. And we are racing!

And an immediate attack from Taco van der Hoorn and Ide Schelling.

No reaction from the peloton to the two escapees.

One rider from Arkea trying to bridge up. 

Giosue Epis easily made it across to join the other two riders. And more moves starting to come from the field which is now strung out.

More teams want to get to the front. Schmid takes a solo flyer to get to the trio ahead by 19 seconds.

A few riders needing a bike change at the back, including Jay Vine and Alexis Renard. Renard had a long wait for his team car.

It was a crash at the back. Renard gets a bike change, and continues on with shredded shorts.

The crash caused a split in the peloton with 152km to go.

Big chase by the second group led by Jayco-AlUla has caught back onto the first peloton group.

Meanwhile, Coquard and Vine, chasing,  are in the convoy as the commissaire calls for a barrage.

Vine also went down in that earlier crash. He has blood on his leg and a tear in his shorts.  Vine and Coquard have rejoined the peloton.

Break

Three riders are in the break: Giosue Epis (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) and Ide Schelling (XDS Astana). 

Vine is at the medical car, getting looked at.

The trio have 1:00 on the peloton.

They are no danger for the GC contenders, and the highest placed on GC is Schelling who is 7:55 down.

Two riders trying to bridge up to the trio are Mauro Schmid and Junior Lecerf.

Schmid and Lecerf have joined the trio of Epis, Van der Hoorn and Schelling to make it five up the road.  Lots of chatter when the connection was made.

Swiss champion Schmid is 31 seconds back, and Lecerf is 35 seconds down on GC.

Jayco-AlUla is patrolling the front of the peloton to help the breakaway, with their teammate Schmid, gets a longer leash. Gao at 1:21

Good news for the break as the peloton starts taking nature breaks, as Movistar goes to the front to set tempo for race leader Romo with 141km to go

137km to go

Break of five have 1:45 on the peloton which seems to be keeping a tight leash on the escapees. Average speed has been over 40kmph so far.

Lecerf has a quick chat with his Soudal Quick-Step DS, grabs a gel and gets back to the break. Van der Hoorn and Schmid also engaged in a chat. 

The conversations continue in the break. Lots of chatter going on.

Puncture for Alex Edmonson in the peloton.

Breakaway of Junior Lecerf  (Soudal-Quickstep), Giosue Epis (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty), Ide Schelling (XDS Astana) and Swiss champion Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) have 2:17 on the field with 131km to go.

Schmid is now virtual leader on the road.

Peloton holding the gap to around 2 minutes. Now at 1:51 with 126km to go, and inside of 5km to the first intermediate sprint with bonus seconds of 3,2 and 1 on the line, as well as sprint points.

Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) said at the start that there was a “potential” of bonus seconds today.

“We’ll always be looking to take some time. I think Rohan [Dennis] showed here a couple of years ago that you could get a small gap and shake up the GC on this day. I think also, Richie [Porte] lost the GC here a few years ago too. So we've got to be on the ball, but if we're status quo by the end of the day, and we're ready for a big showdown tomorrow, Willunga. I'd also be stoked with that.”

Excited about Willunga Hill? “Massively. Get through today, be on the same time as the others, and then look, throw it all out there on Wallinga, I think where we're sitting on the GC at the moment, there's not a whole lot to defend, but we're not in a bad position either. So just throw down the gauntlet on Willunga tomorrow and see what happens. But get through today safely and with all the big boys too.”

Five escapees see 1km to the first intermediate sprint in Snapper Point. Gap at 1:39.

Van der Hoorn leading the five while Lecerf is tightening his shoes at the back of the group.

Lecerf tried to jump first but had no room and Schmid accelerated to hold him off and took top points and 3 time bonus seconds. Lecerf was second. Epis was third. 

Movistar-led peloton comes through the sprint line, 2:06 behind the break.

Break riders through the feed zone, grabbing bottles from their soigneurs. Gap holding at 2:02 with 115km to go.

The peloton at the Tour Down Under are adjusting to a slew of new UCI rules for 2025, most notably a provision that restricts food and water hand-ups to designated feed zones and from team cars in the convoy. 

While race organisers and teams appeared to be blindsided by the rule, which was published on December 23, 2024, teams association president Brent Copeland clarified the rationale behind the rule to Cyclingnews.

Read more in 'Reckless driving' outside race courses one motivator for new UCI feed zone rules

Third on GC, at 10 seconds down, Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) said at the start in Glenelg:

“Of course, every day is an opportunity, but I think today we will put the focus on Tim [Tom Teutenberg], for the sprint and for no time loss for us. And tomorrow is a really important day on Willunga, so we will have a focus on, actually, on every day.”

About racing conservatively today. “If there is an opportunity, we have to go for it. And we saw two years ago, there comes a small group in 10 seconds. So, if something like this happens, wehave to be inside,we have to be present. And yeah, with five guys, I think, yeah, it's quite comfortable that we don't look for what they have to look for one so we can play all with different cards.”

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) was not feeling well in the first three stages. Cyclingnews caught up with him at the start in Glenelg:

“First day was a real battle to get through. I felt better the next day and yesterday felt better again, and so I'm OK now. It's just the fact of doing my bit for the team. It's a shame, you don't want to come here and just be suffering out the back, just surviving."

"I'm trying to make the most of the next few days. We have Magnus [Sheffield] still up there, so we'll do what we can for him. The rest of the boys are feeling good, so we'll just be active and try to get something out of the race.”

Magnus Sheffield is 15 seconds down on GC.

Puncture and rear wheel change for Geoffrey Bouchard, and he's back on his bike.

A few more teams massing at the front of the peloton with 108km to go, and the gap is 1:36.

Epis pulls away from the break, with no urgent reaction from the four as they are heading uphill on an uncategorized climb.

Epis is waiting for the other four riders in the break, and they're back together with a gao of 1:14. Schelling goes back to the front of the group to set the pace.

Gap tumbled to under one minute. If they get closer, it will lead to more attacks from the peloton.

The break is making its way to a narrow, technical descent following this uncategorized climb.  Van der Hoorn asked the TV motorcycle for his car but the cars have been taken out from the gap. Neutral service comes in to assist.

And now the neutral car moves out of the gap which is now 50 seconds with 104km to go.

100km to go

Peloton eased off slightly to let the gap go back to over one minutes, nudged out to 1:10 as they cross over the Myponga Reservoir wall 

Martin Barras, ARA Australia directeur sportif, said at the start in Glenelg:

“Tour Down Under is a very high-level racing. So for the guys, it's always a little bit trying. But we wanted to get stuck into it from the get go, we've achieved that, I think, a good, solid lead in the king of the mountains jersey. We have some ambitions for the young rider’s classification, which keeps us busy. And today's the day for the fast boys.”

Break of 5 riders:  Epis, Van der Hoorn, Schelling, Schmid and Lecerf  have 1:44 with 91 km to go, and 5km to the next intermediate sprint.

Fabio Baldato, UAE Team Emirates XRG DS, told Cyclingnews at the start:

About bonus seconds being important for GC. ”That was a tactic from the teams. We let it go the first days, but now a guy like Konrad doesn't go anymore, because today we will control him. We saw the other guys that took the seconds yesterday were both dropped, and at the end that second didn't really count. The one that did a good operation was [Patrick] Konrad from Lidl-Trek, because the five seconds that he took in the break gave him third place. That was a great operation, but you don't have the space now to do that again.”

“The race is pretty simple, because today and tomorrow will not be really windy. Even a team like Movistar can really control and bring the bunch together. It will be more about [Willunga], full gas. Yesterday was more open to different situations. We also tried to make the race hard the first time on the climb. The level this year is high. We expected a bigger selection, but the first time on the climb, it wasn't going fast like the second time. The day was not so hot. The normal here is about 30 to 35 [°C]. It was maybe 22, so the riders from Europe were able to perform well, that normally did not happen in the past years. Now you have an open race today and tomorrow for a bigger show.”

UAE have a two-prong tactic with Jhonathan Narvaez  setting second overall, at 8 seconds back and Jay Vine at 15 seconds in arrears.

Building up to the sprint. Lecerf again tightens up his shoes as Schmid pulls off the front and got to the back behind Lecerf.

First move came from Schmid with Epis on his week followed by Lecerf. Schmid takes top points and another 3 seconds time bonus for a total of 6 seconds today. Epis was second and Lecerf was third at the second intermediate sprint in Yankalilla.

Still the whole Movistar team at the front, with Romo in the ochre jersey sitting fifth wheel. Gap is 1:25 with 85km to go.

Here’s what Kim Andersen, Lidl-Trek DS told Cyclingnews at the start, about the team tactics with five riders in the top 18 on GC:

“We’ll try to follow today. I don't think there's much to do, because the problem is, when you're so close, you cannot go anywhere. Of course, if there are a lot of attacks we will follow and also put people in them, but we will go for tomorrow.”

First Van der Hoorn went to his team car, and Lecerf keeps looking back for his car.  Gap around the one-minute mark

Lidl-Trek put 2 riders at the front, behind 2 Movistar as we head towards to the first KOM of the day, the cat. 2 Parawa Hill, inside of 10km to KOM.

Lecerf stopped for a nature break, sat up and will be back with the peloton soon. 784km to go as the four up the toad now have 1:14

Mat Hayman Jayco-AlUla DS, told Cyclingnews at the start:

“[gaps from yesterday were] not what I expected. We know the level is really high, and we know that everybody comes to this race prepared. When they pick a team, it's not just us that are preparing to do well here. The level across the board over the last few years has been extremely high. We see record times, every time, with bigger groups coming with the faster times. That's quite impressive.”

Schmid, who is in the break today, was intending to be up there yesterday but "had an off day”.

“Chris Harper was attacking on Norton summit at the start, and nobody else really wanted to race. He was pulling on the first time up the climb, and he was still attacking with 3k to go. So my hat goes off to him. He's doing everything he can to make this race as hard as possible. If nobody else wants to join, then our hands are pretty tired there.”

“Chris is in great form. He's a local boy and he's always ready to do the job. At the moment, he's in a great spot, and let's see what happens on that. He knows that climb [Willunga] pretty well.”

Hayman added that he didn't want to "sound like an old fart" but he was firmly in favour of the new UCI feed zone rules.

"I don't want to see anyone dehydrated. I don't want to see anyone suffering - it's a hard sport. They need the nutrition. But I think it was a bit of an arms race to get as many people, particularly in the Tour de France, having water and ice at, you know, every 10 kilometers, and having staff for that and vehicles for that - at the bottom of a climb, middle of a climb, top of the climb - having to employ extra staff and vehicles just for those water bottles and ice. Maybe now people have to rethink how they race and strategize around nutrition. "

5km to top of KOM#1 for the break. The cat2 Parawa Hill is 2.9km-long with an average gradient of 7% and max of 12.3%

Reorganization at the front of the peloton, with teams getting into position for the upcoming climb. 

Break suffering on the steep section of the climb, with 1.4km to go to the top. The four rider have 1:15 on the field.

Peloton is now massed at the front, blocking off any possible attacks. 

Break looks at each other inside of 1km to go. Van der Hoorn setting the pace followed by Schmid, Epis and Schelling. 

Schmid takes the front with 200 metres to go on the climb, but no contests the KOM. Schmid was first across the line followed by Epis, Schelling and Van der Hoorn.

Field rolls across the line, no KOM points left after the four in the break.

67km to go

Speed and intensity has definitely picked up in the break of 4, including Van der Hoorn, Epis, Schelling and Schmid. The quartet now have 2 minutes on the field.

Break flying down the descent, 94kmpr, with a gap of 2:14 at 64km to go.

UAE, Visma are moving up in the peloton. 

Movistar back in control at the front, with Romo in third wheel. 

After what seemed an almost leisurely ride, the break is committed to the move now with a gao of 2:21 inside of 60.7km to go.

Tesfazion is moving up the field after getting a slew of bottles from his Movistar team car. 

Break of four is still pushing the pace, 51kmph, with a gap of 2:24 with 55km to go.

IPT coming up Movistar's right shoulder at the front of the field, and Ineos is next to them. 

Geraint Thomas welcomes Caleb Ewan to Ineos Grenadiers with view to Tour de France sprint wins.

"It's great, obviously I know him well," Thomas told Cyclingnews. "He's a good guy - we need a sprinter and he's a top sprinter. It's great to have him."

Read more Welshman highlights team's dual goals in the Grand Tour

Alex Edmondson is back at the medical car, pointing to his leg with 50.5km to go.

Break of four have 2:30 with 50km to go, and inside of 30km to the Nettle Hill climb.

Peloton is single-filed at the back, with Jayco at the rear.

The drag race between the break and the peloton is on. Gap is 2:25 with 45.7km to go. No teams are really helping Movistar at the front, yet.

IPT are lined up behind Movistar, working for their sprinter Corbin Strong, No one wants to commit resources to the chase quite yet. Are they saving themselves to Willunga Hill tomorrow?

Romo is sitting third wheel with more teammates behind him and the gap is 2:11 with 42km to go. Arkea rider came to the front to ask Movistar to ride in the middle of the road, and away from the gutter. 

Epis skipped a turn in the break who are flying down a descent at 105kmph. 

Schelling raised his hand looking for his team car. 

Change at the front of the peloton with PostNL taking the front. A real battle for position, nerves are high for the upcoming climb.

IPT and Movistar fighting for control on the front with EF Education also showing their colors with 35km to go.

32km to go

The gap is tumbling down for the four riders in the break, now at 1:14

Movistar still at the front, trying to keep Romo in good position for the climb, while other teams - EF, IPT, Visma, Jayco - are trying to take control. 

Epis still sitting at the back of the break, as the gap goes under the minute mark. Schmid is doing a lot of work at the front. 

Romo is in the middle of the field, with the field massed together, battling for position as they know that they will catch the break. Gap at 58 seconds with 28km to go.

Movistar's Tesfazion is pulling away from the peloton, looks over his shoulder and keeps going.

Tesfazion keeps looking back, and getting on the radio. 

And Tesfazion is back into the field with 23km to go. Gap at 1:15.

1km to go to the top of cat 1. The sting on 1.9km Nettle Hill will come from an average incline of 8.1 per cent, topping out at 14% near the top.

Peloton swinging on the steeper slopes as the break collapses. Schmid continuing on solo with 22km to go, 

Schmid goes over the top with a gap of 30 seconds and keeps on going. UAE setting the pace and doing the damage.

Canadian champion Woods going to the front and upping the tempo, as Schmid still has 21 seconds.

Strong is in third wheel behind a Jayco rider and his teammate Woods.

Welsford is in a dropped group inside of 20km to go.

Peloton has lost about half the riders on the climb. 

Romo, Narvaez, Only, Vine, Williams, Brennan are still in the group.

Williams is moving up, going to the front behind Chris Harper, second wheel in the group led by Woods. 

Various teams coming to the front, briefly to add their contribution to the chase with Schmid still off the front with 16km to go.

Best young rider Philipsen also made the front split. 

Schmid is holding 18 seconds with 15km to go. 

Organization comes together in the peloton, with UAE, IPT and Lidl working together to bring back the Swiss champion with 14km to go.

And Schmid is reeled in with 13km to go with his erstwhile breakmate Van der Hoorn leading the chase.

UAE and IPT still setting the pace as the road starts to go up  for an uncategorised ascent.

Bauhaus and Stannard also made the split, and Bahrain organizing for their sprinter.

UAE's Torres makes a dig away with 11.5km to go, and AG2R Vendrame connects with Torres.

The pair have around 50 metre gap in the peloton but they are brought back in with Askey setting a fast pace, shadowed by Onley.

10km to go

Half the peloton is dipped, and another attack by FDJ, marked by Soler and Sheffield.

And the gap is neutralized once again, led by Onley. Romo just behind him.

Bahrain goes back to the front as Jayco moves up with 9km to go. Romo seems to isolated and riding close to the front.

Attack by Harper, marked by FDJ.

The FDJ rider covering many of the attacks is Bystrøm.  After a slight hesitation, Konrad tries to get across but he is marked by Romo.

Torres attacks again with 8km to go, and Romo covers as Bystrøm and Harper have a small gap.

Soler leading the chase, looking to bring it all back for his teammate Narvaez.

Bystrøm and Harper are back into the group with 7km to go. IPT at the front again.

SprintersTeutenberg and Andresen also made the split. A number of fast men made it over the climb with the front group

IPT still at the front, working hard for their sprinter Strong with 4.4km to go, as they zoom down to the finish line.

IPT's Bennett and Strong at the front of still a fairly big group.

Woods pulls off, leaving Bennett to set the pace. Points leader Welsford is in a group, around 55 seconds off the back.

Bennett pulls off. Vine on the front setting the pace while Bahrain is organizing for Bauhaus. 2.4km to go

Now it'sIneos at the front. So far not team has taken control inside of 2km togo.

2 FDJ riders take over at the front with Ineos on their wheel.

Ineos with 5 in a row inside of 1km to go.

Ineos leads the sprint, inside 400 to go. Coquard opens up, Bauhaus accelerates, and Narvaez waves his arms -  photo finish!

Coquard takes the win ahead of Bauhaus!

Results

Let's hear from stage 4 winner Bryan Coquard (Cofidis):

“Very lucky to win today, because yesterday is not a good day for the team, we didn't have good legs, And the general classification is [gone], we lose a chance yesterday, but today, I know it's my best chance to win here. And, yeah, it's a perfect day."

About winning his first WorldTour stage at 2023 Tour Down Under, "I love this country. Maybe in the start of season, every every year, I’m good, and I start good, and with the results, yeah, I love this country. It's perfect for me to start. And it's a good start for the team."

"I used my [velodrome] experience to do a good spin, and don't think a lot and I think I started at 300 meters, but with speed, but Bauhaus arrived with lot of speed, but it's perfect."

Let's hear from race leader Javier Romo (Movistar) who retained the GC lead on the eve of the Queen Stage:

"I'm very happy, the objective today was to maintain the jersey. My team did super good job leading the leading the race , it’s not normal to see Movistar leading the race to maintain the job they did and let's see tomorrow in Willunga."

Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) still tops the best young rider classification with 15-second lead on Zac Marriage (ARA Australia).

Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) still leads the points classification with eight points on Coquard. That classification will be decided on the final stage in Adelaide on Sunday.

Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) stayed in the peloton today, letting other teams go in the break, and is now assured of winning the mountains classifcation when he finishes on the last stage.

No surprise that Swiss Champion Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), the last breakaway rider to be reeled in, was awarded the most combative prize.

Our race report, results, and photos can all be found here:

Tour Down Under: Bryan Coquard holds off Phil Bauhaus to win stage 4