The Hindu : Sport / Cycling : Thor Hushovd wins fourth stage

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Thor Hushovd wins fourth stage

— Photo: AP

WELL DONE: The overall leader, Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, exchanges pleasantries with the fourth stage winner, Thor Hushovd of Norway, on Wednesday.

JOIGNY: Thor Hushovd of Norway won the fourth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, and Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara kept the overall lead for a fifth straight day.

Hushovd won in a sprint at the end of the mostly flat 193-kilometre ride from Villers-Cotterets to Joigny.

“Everything took place superbly well,” said Hushovd, who finished in 4 hours, 37 minutes, 47 seconds for his fifth Tour stage win. “I’m too happy.”

Robert Hunter of South Africa was second, and Oscar Freire of Spain was third. They and the trailing pack, which included Cancellara, finished with the same time as Hushovd.

After the previous day’s desperate chase of a four-man breakaway had led to Cancellara’s shock win, the peloton were in no mood to endure a similar scenario.

In the latter stages, the bunch proved positively more alert as they chased down a five-man break which had formed at the 31.5km mark thanks to Frenchman Mathieu Sprick, whose attack prompted four other riders, including former stage winner Juan Antonio Flecha of Rabobank, to join in.

Cancellara leads

Cancellara is the only rider to wear the race leader’s yellow jersey this year. He won the prologue and the third stage and leads the overall standings with a time of 19:49:55.

Hushovd, who earned bonus points for Wednesday’s stage win, is second overall and trails Cancellara by 29 seconds.

Andreas Kloeden of Germany is third, 33 seconds behind. Xavier Zandio dropped out after breaking his right collarbone in a crash. — Agencies

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