Thomas Voeckler wins fourth stage of Tour du Nord-pas-de Calais 2011 – Cycling news
Thomas Voeckler of the Europcar team won the fourth stage of the Tour du Nord-pas-de Calais race on Saturday.
The race started in Hazebrouck and ended at Cassel. The French national champion took a total of 4 hours, 52 minutes and 50 seconds to win the stage. Laurent Pichon of the Bretagne-Schuller team was in second place 1 minute and 43 seconds behind Voeckler.
Cyclocross world champion Zdenek Stybar of the Quick Step team finished third with the same timing as Pichon.
After his Europcar teammates kept the race under control in the closing kilometres of one of the most classic races, Voeckler powered across the line comfortably ahead of the group of five riders.
There were three sprints in the race. In the first sprint, a group of three riders including Sven Nys of the Landbouwkrediet team, Kevin De Weert of the Quick Step team and Joost Van Leijin of the Vacansoleil-DCM team escaped after 90 kilometres of racing.
In the last climb of the race, Davy Commeyne was followed by Kevin De Weert and Johan Mombaerts. Davy Commeyne took advantage of four minutes over the peloton and won the last sprint of the race.
With 55 kilometres remaining, the chasing group of 21 riders including Voeckler took lead when the race entered in the finishing circuit in Cassel. In the last 20 kilometres of the race, Voeckler made his winning move.
Frenchman Voeckler was pursued by the chasing group of five riders including Pichon, Zdenek Stybar, Pierrick Fedrigo, Thierry Hupond and Rob Ruijgh. However, Voeckler crossed the finish line with 1 minute and 43 seconds ahead of the group.
Voeckler also took a lead in the overall classification with a timing of 16 hours, 42 minutes and 42 seconds. His compatriot Laurent Pichon was the runner-up 1 minute and 50 seconds behind Thomas.
Zdenek Stybar of the Quick Cycling team was in third spot with a difference of 1 minute and 52 seconds.
The winner of the first three stages and the leader of pink jersey Marcel Kittel of the Skil-Shimano team was not in good from and took an overall 44th place 11 minutes and 39 seconds behind Voeckler.
The fifth and final stage of the event spread over 175 kilometres will start in Grande-Synthe and end at Dunkerque.
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