“I’m happy that I was able to reward this strong team performance with a victory,” Rowe said afterward. “We had four riders from our team in the lead group, which allowed me to save my energy for the sprint. I’m incredibly happy to have secured my first victory for this team here.” 

The fourth stage of the French stage race covered 165 kilometers and featured numerous climbs along the route. Despite many attacks, no rider managed to establish a significant advantage. In the peloton, Team Visma | Lease a Bike took the initiative. The race finally came to life on the final climb. Thanks in part to the efforts of the yellow-and-black squad, the peloton split apart. Alongside Rowe and Van Kerckhove, Sven Mernik and William Smith were also part of the front group. 

The lead group of around fifteen riders stayed clear and ultimately contested the stage win in a sprint. In the sprint, no one could respond to Rowe’s acceleration. The young Briton impressively claimed his first victory of the season and his first since joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development. Van Kerckhove retains the lead in the general classification. 

“The racing was aggressive right from the start. There were many attacks, but no one managed to break away from the peloton. As a team, we wanted to make it a tough race, and we succeeded in doing that. On the final climb, we increased the pace, which caused the peloton to split apart. In the end, it created an ideal situation for us. After the perfect lead-out from Matisse, I was able to finish it off in the sprint. I’m very grateful to the guys for that."