FOIX, France, July 7 (Reuters) - Denmark's Mads Pedersen powered to victory from a big breakaway on stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday, leading a Lidl-Trek one-two finish while Norway's Torstein Traeen from Uno-X Mobility claimed the yellow jersey.
Pedersen was the fastest from a lead group at the end of the gruelling 181.9-km hilly stage from Carcassonne to Foix, crossing the line ahead of teammate Quinn Simmons, while Spain's Raul Garcia Pierna of Movistar finished third.
It was Pedersen's third victory in the Tour de France and his 12th in a Grand Tour.
The stage was shaped by an early breakaway of 34 riders who built up a sizeable advantage over the peloton on a route featuring four classified climbs. As the gap held deep into the stage, it became increasingly clear that the day's winner would emerge from the escape group rather than the general classification contenders.
A reduced front group formed over the latter climbs, with Jan Tratnik, Mathias Vacek and Alex Kirsch initially driving the pace before Pedersen, Simmons, Sean Quinn and Traeen bridged across on the Category Two Col de Montsegur, the day's final climb.
Lidl-Trek's numerical advantage proved decisive in the closing kilometres. Vacek set a fierce tempo under the flamme rouge and although Kevin Vauquelin swept through the final corner in front after a late attack, Pedersen unleashed a powerful sprint to secure victory.
The win also moved Pedersen into the lead of the points classification, taking the green jersey from defending champion Tadej Pogacar.
TRAEEN TAKES YELLOW JERSEY
Traeen was another major beneficiary of the day's breakaway, taking the overall race lead from Pogacar. The Norwegian, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer three years ago before making a full recovery, became only the third Norwegian rider to wear the Tour's yellow jersey after Thor Hushovd and Alexander Kristoff.
"There isn't that much to say right now. Right now I'm a bit tired," Traeen told TV2 after the stage.
Asked about the significance of the achievement, he added: "It is, of course, a bit of a boyhood dream coming true. A good day at work, as one would say."
Pogacar, who claimed the 22nd Tour stage victory of his career on Monday, relinquished the race lead as the peloton rolled in well behind the breakaway.
The Slovenian remains level on time with chief rival Jonas Vingegaard, while Remco Evenepoel is third overall. Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz are all within 53 seconds of the lead.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron; Writing by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier and Clare Fallon)
