Pogačar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard put safety first before battling for the Tour de France yellow jersey

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) finished together in Turin in 38th and 40th place respectively, with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) at the back of the massive peloton in 68th place, having preferred not to sprint to the finish line and fight for placings in Stage 3 of the Tour de France. The campaign allowed Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) to finish ahead of them and take the yellow jersey thanks to better stage placings.The stage was disrupted by a crash with 2.2km to go, allowing Pogačar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard to calmly ride to the finish in the centre of Turin, knowing they would have the same time as stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).They put safety first before fighting for the yellow jersey and stayed at the same time, but Carapaz wears the yellow jersey. Their big rivals such as Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the Ineos Grenadiers trio Carlos Rodriguez, Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock and others all finished in the main group, staying at 21 seconds.Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates team had made it clear that defending the yellow jersey this early in the Tour de France was not a priority, as his all-out battle with Vingegaard and ultimately overall victory shaped their race strategy for three weeks. It was a moment of amnesty for Tuesday's fourth stage over the Col du Galibier to Valloire. Pogačar and Evenepoel seemed happy to let Carapaz take over the yellow jersey, leaving his EF Education-EasyPost team to defend it during the intense 139.6km stage.Losing the yellow jersey meant Pogačar no longer had to stand on the podium or give press briefings. So he was able to disappear into the UAE Team Emirates team bus and quickly start his recovery. The latest racing content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides straight to your inbox!Evenepoel retained the white jersey for best young rider, but he did not appear to have the weight of the yellow jersey on his shoulders before the first mountain stage of the 2024 Tour de France. "I didn't have to do anything today," he told the Belgian media at the finish. "I wanted to come in at my leisure, well, figuratively speaking. That worked. The mission of the day was accomplished. "I didn't think about yellow. I finished without injuries and hopefully it will stay that way. Others have fallen seriously and that's not nice to see."Evenepoel was initially unaware that crashes had affected him indirectly, despite his caution. Young teammate Casper Pedersen crashed at speed with 15 kilometers to go and the Dane suffered a broken collarbone, forcing him to abandon the Tour despite finishing the stage. Evenepoel is focusing on the fourth stage, in which attacks over the Galibier could create large time differences between the other contenders.“It is important, but it is not the most important day of the Tour. It will not be the most difficult stage,” he said, playing a long game."There may be differences, but not the greatest differences. We must be ready for war and then we will see what can come out of it.'We're just going to try to follow and not waste time. If there is a battle for victory, I will try to participate, but it could well be that the leading group wins again.”Get unlimited access to all our Tour de France coverage, including breaking news and analysis from our journalists on the ground, from every stage of the race as it happens and much more. Find out more.

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