Tour de France Stage 4 - Another close one as Kittel edges it. Literally.

The Tour's longest stage of the year started its 237km slog from Saumer and @KevsXe presided over The Laughing Group's coverage up until to the line at Limoges, hoping for a more eventful day than the previous one.

It's looking like being a slightly quicker race than yesterday's plodding pace. A break of four has about five minutes on the peloton.

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

But as the race was making steady progress, the same couldn't be said of Tinkoff's team bus:

Teambus Tinkoff is kapot. To translate for you, the #Tinkoff bus broke down and has been replaced by a rental. https://t.co/zTuS9zhOFV

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

There were no such worries for the peloton, though, as they motored along nicely:

Gap down to 2 minutes. At this rate the peloton can catch the break before the intermediate sprint. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

Meanwhile, Eurosport were having to translate for the over-sensitive of hearing:

Pretty sure I just heard "Shit happens" translated by Eurosport as "these sort of things can happen". #TDF2016 #Tinkoff

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

And as Alex Gougeard dropped off the break, the Laughing Group fashion police were out in force:

It's a better looking break now without the sky blue and brown of AG2R sullying the pictures. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

The rest of the breakaway were eventually swept up:

Schillinger goes first, Irizar and Naesen defiant but caught with 7km left. TNK, MOV and SKY driving, keeping GC candidates safe. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

And the sprint teams came to the fore:

Lotto-Soudal back at the front, getting Greipel the best lines. Only prominent sprint train at the 5km point. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

But it was far from plain sailing for the rest of the peloton:

Orica-Bike Exchange working hard for Matthews. HUGE bottleneck at a roundabout, may have seriously held up some people. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

At this point, it looked as though Greipel's team had the advantage, while his compatriot Kittel was out of the picture:

EQS are way out of position in a very strung out peloton. Lotto-Soudal still well placed. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

As they hit the 1km banner, of course we used this again:

FLAMME ROUGE! pic.twitter.com/aEb6n9eQXq

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

But where Mark Cavendish found himself trapped, Ettix-QuickStep had got their act together:

Straight run to the line from here. EQS have regrouped. Cavendish boxed in. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

And, with Bryan Coquard and Kittel vying for the line, the stage went to a photo finish for the second day in a row:

Photo finish again!! Coquard coming up on Kittel's left. Shoulders rubbed in the runin if the commisaires are feeling feisty. #TDF2016

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

But it was the big German with the better lunge and that won him his first stage of this year's Tour:

It's Kittel! Great work from Etixx-QuickStep to get back together after the roundabout embouteillage. Big boost to his #GreenJersey tally.

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

Just:

Wow. It was a wheel rim yesterday, just the tyre made the difference today! https://t.co/0gfEmZmuVP

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

And, along with the win, Marcel Kittel was also the recipient of praise from the Laughing Group's resident style guru:

Congratulations Marcel Kittel, on the best kept hair in the peloton. Oh, and he won the stage. https://t.co/ciH3YU4nvi

— The Laughing Group (@Laughing_Group) 5 July 2016

So, no change in the GC, but Peter Sagan regains the lead in the green jersey competition, thanks to his third place finish.

And that was stage 4, see you all tomorrow as we head into the mountains.

Stage results:
1. Marcel Kittel (EQS) 5:28:30
2. Bryan Coquard (DEN) + :0
3. Peter Sagan (TNK) + :0

General Classification:
1. Peter Sagan (TNK) 20:03:02
2. Julian Alaphilippe (EQS) + :12
3. Alejandro Valverde (MOV) + :14
4. Warren Barguil (TGA) + :18
5. Chris Froome (SKY) + :18

Points Classification:
1. Peter Sagan (TNK) 147
2. Mark Cavendish (DDD) 142
3. Marcel Kittel (EQS) 137

King of the Mountains:
1. Jasper Stuyven (TFS) 4
2. Paul Voss (BOA) 2
3. Armindo Fonseca (FVC) 1