00:09:31

That's the amount of time that separates the top rider in the Tour de France from the last guy at 186th after four stages ridden.

Here are the standings after today's Stage 4...

1 033 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI CSC 19:49:55.000 00:00:00.000
2 101 HUSHOVD, Thor NOR C.A 19:50:24.000 00:00:29.000
3 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 19:50:28.000 00:00:33.000
4 201 MILLAR, David GBR SDV 19:50:36.000 00:00:41.000
5 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 19:50:38.000 00:00:43.000
6 149 WIGGINS, Bradley GBR COF 19:50:38.000 00:00:43.000
7 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 19:50:39.000 00:00:44.000
8 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 19:50:40.000 00:00:45.000
9 171 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSI 19:50:41.000 00:00:46.000
10 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 19:50:41.000 00:00:46.000
11 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 19:50:44.000 00:00:49.000
12 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 19:50:45.000 00:00:50.000
13 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 19:50:46.000 00:00:51.000
14 157 QUINZIATO, Manuel ITA LIQ 19:50:47.000 00:00:52.000
15 169 VAUGRENARD, Benoît FRA FDJ 19:50:47.000 00:00:52.000
16 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 19:50:48.000 00:00:53.000
17 184 GRIVKO, Andriy UKR MRM 19:50:48.000 00:00:53.000
18 151 POZZATO, Filippo ITA LIQ 19:50:50.000 00:00:55.000
19 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 19:50:50.000 00:00:55.000
20 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 19:50:50.000 00:00:55.000
21 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 19:50:51.000 00:00:56.000
22 102 BONNET, William FRA C.A 19:50:51.000 00:00:56.000
23 077 PEREZ, Ruben ESP EUS 19:50:51.000 00:00:56.000
24 021 ROGERS, Michael AUS TMO 19:50:52.000 00:00:57.000
25 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 19:50:52.000 00:00:57.000
26 181 ZABEL, Erik GER MRM 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
27 139 VOGONDY, Nicolas FRA AGR 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
28 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
29 199 SAVOLDELLI, Paolo ITA AST 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
30 216 HUNTER, Robert RSA BAR 19:50:54.000 00:00:59.000
31 175 ROSSELER, Sébastien BEL QSI 19:50:54.000 00:00:59.000
32 148 VERBRUGGHE, Rik BEL COF 19:50:54.000 00:00:59.000
33 055 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP RAB 19:50:55.000 00:01:00.000
34 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 19:50:55.000 00:01:00.000
35 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 19:50:55.000 00:01:00.000
36 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 19:50:58.000 00:01:03.000
37 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 19:50:58.000 00:01:03.000
38 192 COLOM, Antonio ESP AST 19:50:58.000 00:01:03.000
39 095 KOHL, Bernhard AUT GST 19:50:59.000 00:01:04.000
40 176 STEEGMANS, Gert BEL QSI 19:50:59.000 00:01:04.000
41 117 PAULINHO, Sergio POR DSC 19:50:59.000 00:01:04.000
42 091 SCHUMACHER, Stefan GER GST 19:51:00.000 00:01:05.000
43 144 MORENI, Cristian ITA COF 19:51:00.000 00:01:05.000
44 097 SCHOLZ, Ronny GER GST 19:51:00.000 00:01:05.000
45 165 GILBERT, Philippe BEL FDJ 19:51:01.000 00:01:06.000
46 125 LEFEVRE, Laurent FRA BTL 19:51:01.000 00:01:06.000
47 215 GERAINT, Thomas GBR BAR 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000
48 122 CLEMENT, Stef NED BTL 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000
49 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000
50 056 FREIRE, Oscar ESP RAB 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000

Results of Stage 4

Thanks again to Versus for this information. Next year I'll get a head start on working for them in Europe. This year I was a little late to the line...just like Robbie Hunter in today's stage.

The top 10 in stage four is as follows:
1. Thor Hushovd (NOR) C.A 193km in 4h37'37 (41.687km/h)
2. Robbie Hunter (RSA) BAR
3. Oscar Freire (ESP) RAB
4. Erik Zabel (GER) MRM
5. Danilo Napolitano (ITA) LAM
6. Gert Steegmans (BEL) QSI
7. Robert Forster (GER) GST
8. Tom Boonen (BEL) QSI
9. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA) FDJ
10. Mark Cavendish (GBR) TMO

187 Riders Still

The race today started with 187 riders, but after only two hours of riding Xabier Zandio (who crashed in Stage 1) has abandoned the Tour de France. Now there are 186.

In an upcoming post, probably over the weekend, I'll list which teams still have all their riders as I expect a handful of cyclists to drop out by the end of Stage 7.

Stage 4 - Jersey list

Cancellara is still in Yellow

Tom Boonen is still in Green

Stephane Auge of Cofidis is now in Polka Dot (taking it away from Millar)

And in the White jersey (the youth classification open to riders born after 1/1/82) Vladimir Gusev of Team Discovery

They're racing now in France and there shall be spoilers to come later today.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Here's the result of Stage 3 of the 2007 Tour de France...

Cancellara
Zabel
Napolitano
Boonen
Hushovd
Forster
McEwen
Eisel
Cavendish
Haussler

That's right! Cancellara led out with about a kilometer to go and just blasted past the break-away bunch and fended off the chasing sprinters. He's still in yellow and is putting his own brand on this race. YIKES!

Remember, Cancellara is supposed to be a time trial and sprint specialist. We'll see what happens to him in a few stages when the roads turn upward.

Standings after Stage 3...(pasted right from Versus' site)

(Here's your top 50 - the numbers on the far right are the minutes and seconds the rider is behind Cancellara. For example, Millar is 41 seconds back and Boonen is 46 seconds back.)

Pos. No. Name Nat. Team Time Gap
1 033 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI CSC 15:12:08.000 00:00:00.000
2 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 15:12:41.000 00:00:33.000
3 201 MILLAR, David GBR SDV 15:12:49.000 00:00:41.000
4 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 15:12:51.000 00:00:43.000
5 149 WIGGINS, Bradley GBR COF 15:12:51.000 00:00:43.000
6 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 15:12:53.000 00:00:45.000
7 171 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSI 15:12:54.000 00:00:46.000
8 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 15:12:54.000 00:00:46.000
9 101 HUSHOVD, Thor NOR C.A 15:12:57.000 00:00:49.000
10 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 15:12:57.000 00:00:49.000
11 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 15:12:58.000 00:00:50.000
12 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 15:12:59.000 00:00:51.000
13 157 QUINZIATO, Manuel ITA LIQ 15:13:00.000 00:00:52.000
14 169 VAUGRENARD, Benoît FRA FDJ 15:13:00.000 00:00:52.000
15 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 15:13:01.000 00:00:53.000
16 184 GRIVKO, Andriy UKR MRM 15:13:01.000 00:00:53.000
17 151 POZZATO, Filippo ITA LIQ 15:13:03.000 00:00:55.000
18 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 15:13:03.000 00:00:55.000
19 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 15:13:03.000 00:00:55.000
20 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 15:13:04.000 00:00:56.000
21 102 BONNET, William FRA C.A 15:13:04.000 00:00:56.000
22 077 PEREZ, Ruben ESP EUS 15:13:04.000 00:00:56.000
23 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 15:13:04.000 00:00:56.000
24 021 ROGERS, Michael AUS TMO 15:13:05.000 00:00:57.000
25 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 15:13:05.000 00:00:57.000
26 181 ZABEL, Erik GER MRM 15:13:06.000 00:00:58.000
27 139 VOGONDY, Nicolas FRA AGR 15:13:06.000 00:00:58.000
28 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 15:13:06.000 00:00:58.000
29 199 SAVOLDELLI, Paolo ITA AST 15:13:06.000 00:00:58.000
30 175 ROSSELER, Sébastien BEL QSI 15:13:07.000 00:00:59.000
31 148 VERBRUGGHE, Rik BEL COF 15:13:07.000 00:00:59.000
32 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 15:13:08.000 00:01:00.000
33 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 15:13:08.000 00:01:00.000
34 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 15:13:11.000 00:01:03.000
35 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 15:13:11.000 00:01:03.000
36 192 COLOM, Antonio ESP AST 15:13:11.000 00:01:03.000
37 095 KOHL, Bernhard AUT GST 15:13:12.000 00:01:04.000
38 176 STEEGMANS, Gert BEL QSI 15:13:12.000 00:01:04.000
39 117 PAULINHO, Sergio POR DSC 15:13:12.000 00:01:04.000
40 091 SCHUMACHER, Stefan GER GST 15:13:13.000 00:01:05.000
41 144 MORENI, Cristian ITA COF 15:13:13.000 00:01:05.000
42 097 SCHOLZ, Ronny GER GST 15:13:13.000 00:01:05.000
43 165 GILBERT, Philippe BEL FDJ 15:13:14.000 00:01:06.000
44 125 LEFEVRE, Laurent FRA BTL 15:13:14.000 00:01:06.000
45 215 GERAINT, Thomas GBR BAR 15:13:15.000 00:01:07.000
46 122 CLEMENT, Stef NED BTL 15:13:15.000 00:01:07.000
47 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 15:13:15.000 00:01:07.000
48 115 MARTINEZ, Egoi ESP DSC 15:13:15.000 00:01:07.000
49 193 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST 15:13:16.000 00:01:08.000
50 118 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 15:13:16.000 00:01:08.000

Longest Stage

Even though the stage today is fairly flat (when compared to the upcoming Alpes), it's the longest in the 2007 Tour de France.

236+KM.

Did you know?

Parts of the course in Stage 3 today are the same as are used in Paris Roubaix.