On stage 4 at the Tour de France, Tony Martin rode a teammate's bike to win the stage and the yellow jersey, the first of his career. He thanked his teammates profusely by name for their hard work and support. He and his mates, including GC contender Mark Cavendish on Etixx-Quickstep were overjoyed.
Chris Froome gracefully conceded the win, noted that he's still in a great position, and then thanked his teammates profusely by name, especially Richie Porte, who blew himself up in the first half setting the pace. He and his Sky teammates remain rock-solid, always ready to jump out ahead and drive the pace.
Tinkoff-Saxo's Alberto Contador rode the last 30km on a broken rear rim, and finished well up in the standings, remarking that there was not time to change the wheel. He's also a big GC contender.
France's favorite, local son Thibault Pinot, had a terrible, no good, very bad day. He suffered a roadside mechanical and lost his sang-froid, yelling at hapless mechanics and helpless teammates, waiting for a team car to bring up a replacement bike. Further down the road, he had a meltdown, dismounted, and pounded his replacement carbon bike into the pavement in frustration.
Quoted in the official Le Tour site, he blamed bad luck, tall teammates, and the fact that his team car was in 13th position… which is due to the team's poor position overall, and as the GC contender of that team, something he can do something about. Morale on the French FDJ team must be in le donjon tonight.
"Dejected after the cobbles stage which saw him lose 3:23 because of a mechanical problem, Thibaut Pinot invoked bad luck and the 2013 Tour which was also an ill-fated one for him.
”I had a mechanical and then it went full gas. When incidents pile up… It was the same in 2013 and it looks like it's going to be the same again. It's a shame,” said the third in the 2014 Tour.
”I could have received assistance but who from ? Mathieu (Ladagnous), who is much taller than me ? It's sure that when you have car number 13, you must expect to wait for your car a long time,” he added.
”Now I will try to recover with time. I'm going to finish the Tour and try to prove that my talent is still there,” he said."
Wow, who would you like to drink a glass of wine with at the end of the day? Not Pinot… 😉
Tour de France quotes: Martin digs deep for yellow jersey
Stage 4 reaction from Froome, Contador, Pinot and Trentin