LIEGE, Belgium (AP) — Dutch rider Puck Pieterse finished just ahead of defending champion Demi Vollering in a sprint to win the fourth stage of the women’s Tour de France in the rain on Wednesday.
Overall race leader Vollering, Pieterse and Katarzyna Niewiadoma had carved a 30-second lead going into the Belgian city of Liege. Niewiadoma was the first to break for the line, Vollering followed, and Pieterse stayed tucked behind until she made her move as they approached the finish line. Vollering summoned the energy to chase but Pieterse won in a photo finish.
The 22-year-old Pieterse finished the hilly 122.7-kilometer (76.2-mile) stage from the southern Dutch town of Valkenburg in 3 hours, 12 minutes, 28 seconds.
Pieterse’s win made it four victories in four stages for Dutch riders as the eight-stage tour started in the Netherlands.
Vollering, who won the previous stage in Rotterdam on Monday, maintained the yellow jersey and extended her overall lead to 22 seconds. Pieterse moved second, with Niewiadoma third, 34 seconds behind Vollering, who races for the SD Worx-Protime team.
Early attacker Sara Martin made her move at 24.7 kilometers (15.3 miles). She was stopped by a railway’s level crossing before the Mont-Theux climb, but commissaires also stopped the chasing bunch to preserve her advantage. Still, Martin was caught some 500 meters (546 yards) from the top of the climb at the 74.8-kilometer (46.5-mile) mark. The Spanish rider finished some 14 minutes behind the stage winner.
Thursday’s stage will take the riders from the southern Belgian town of Bastogne to Amneville in the Moselle valley in northeastern France. The race will continue to wind through eastern France to finish Sunday at the top of the punishing climb of the Alpe d’Huez’s famous 21 hairpin bends.
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