CYCLING: Denmark's Pedersen wins Tour stage four, Norway's Traeen takes yellow jersey

FOIX, France — Denmark's Mads Pedersen sprinted to victory from a large breakaway to win Stage 4 of the Tour de France on Tuesday, leading a Lidl-Trek one-two finish as Norway's Torstein Træen claimed the overall race lead and the yellow jersey.

Pedersen was the fastest rider from the lead group after the demanding 181.9-kilometer hilly stage from Carcassonne to Foix. He crossed the finish line ahead of Lidl-Trek teammate Quinn Simmons, while Spain's Raúl García Pierna of Movistar finished third.

The victory was Pedersen's third stage win at the Tour de France and his 12th career stage victory in a Grand Tour.

An early breakaway of 34 riders shaped the stage, building a significant advantage over the peloton on a route featuring four categorized climbs. As the gap remained intact deep into the race, it became clear the stage winner would come from the escape group rather than the overall contenders.

The lead group was reduced on the final climbs as Jan Tratnik, Mathias Vacek and Alex Kirsch set the pace before Pedersen, Simmons, Sean Quinn and Træen bridged across on the Category 2 Col de Montségur, the day's final climb.

Lidl-Trek's numerical advantage proved decisive in the closing kilometers. Vacek maintained a strong pace inside the final kilometer, and although Kévin Vauquelin launched a late attack to lead into the final corner, Pedersen produced a powerful sprint to secure the stage victory.

The win also moved Pedersen into the lead of the points classification, taking the green jersey from defending Tour champion Tadej Pogačar.

Træen was another major beneficiary of the successful breakaway, taking the yellow jersey from Pogačar. The Norwegian rider, who recovered from testicular cancer three years ago, became only the third cyclist from Norway 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," Træen told TV2 after the stage.

"It is, of course, a bit of a boyhood dream coming true. A good day at work, as one would say," he added.

Pogačar, who won his 22nd Tour de France stage on Monday, surrendered the overall lead as the peloton finished 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 race lead. -Reporting by Vincent Daheron; Writing by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier and Clare Fallon/Reuters