Israel Start-Up Nation got its first top 10 place in this year’s Tour de France as André Greipel was 10th in the bunch sprint on stage 4.

After yesterday’s crash-marred stage, the peloton had decided to stop at the beginning of the stage to make a stand together, pursuing safety changes in the races. Greipel was one of the instigators and took action at the front getting the bunch to slow down.

A while later, the stage continued and the racing begin. Two riders attacked and they quickly opened up a gap on the peloton. For a long time, it seemed like the pack had everything under control but as the riders took on the last 10 km, the last remaining rider at the front still had a gap of over one minute.

In the end, the peloton caught him with just a few hundred meters to go, leaving the sprinters to fight for the victory. Greipel was caught a little out of position and ultimately crossed the line in 10th place.

Tomorrow, the riders will take on a 27.2 km long time trial from Changé to Laval Espace Mayenne.

Andre Greipel: “I think the peloton has to stick together. We agreed on something before the race, but they didn’t stop so I went to the front. Sometimes you have to make a point and I really wanted to follow what we had agreed upon before the race today. Maybe I’m one of the oldest riders in the bunch, so I took my responsibility.”

“We did a good preparation towards the sprint, but we lost each other with three kilometers to go. It’s unfortunate because this was a good opportunity but we have a lot of other opportunities coming up and we will try again. The legs felt good.”