Euskaltel avoid pile-ups on stage 4

Today's 214,5km fourth stage from Abbeville to Rouen was a pleasing one for Euskaltel as they stayed out of the small and big crashes that plagued the racing.

The biggest pile-up, with some three clicks left to ride, was the biggest one, and Samu, Izagirre, Astarloza, Azanza, R Pérez and co. just about managed to avoid it. In the ensuing chaos that followed, Pérez tried his hand in the sprint, but he looked totally spent as he rolled across the line in 10th place. More importantly, though, all riders (as far as I'm aware anyway) got through the day safe and sound.

All riders, except for Gorka Verdugo (186th at 4:19), finished up inside the pack. Reportedly he "had a very tough day and suffered terribly".

"My team-mates did a great job", Samuel Sánchez told the team's website. "It was impressive how they always kept me near the front. The speed's high, the tension palpable, so staying close to the front is hard, so I'm very grateful. Today we placed quite a few in the top 25 (five to be precise), and Rubén was tenth in the sprint. The team is doing a great job, we're all motivated and we'll try to stay out of trouble for the remainder of the week".

DS Gorka Gerrikagoitia echoed the team captain's words, saying:

"The team is working very well. We're calm when we need to stay calm, and when the race is on, the team responds accordingly. We were very attentive in the finale; everyone did a good job."

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com