Coquard celebrates after failed GC, Bauhaus argues with team, and Narváez furious with both: "I’ve spoken with the jury and president"

After a tricky finale, it ended in a sprint with a small group. And then you know Bryan Coquard will be among them. The Cofidis Frenchman won the fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, taking his second win in two years in Australia. He held off Phil Bauhaus, who argued with his lead-out. The German and the winner in front of him held off Jhonatan Narváez, who was not pleased with their riding skills.

Coquard's victory came as no surprise. "I am happy to win today because yesterday was not such a good day for us as a team; we did not have the legs," he said in the interview after the finish. "The GC is over; we lost that chance yesterday. Today, I knew it was my best chance to win, so it's a perfect day."

It was a very fast and hectic final. The Frenchman, who also has track experience, thinks those skills helped him in the tricky final. "I think my experience on the track helped me to ride a good sprint. I didn't think much; I started at 300 meters but with speed. Others came back quickly, but it was perfect like that."

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Bauhaus survives nicely: "A step forward"

Bauhaus finished second. The previous sprint opportunities failed to work out, so he wanted to show what he could do at all costs. However, the preparation for the sprint went wrong. "Robert and I did not find each other well," he told the Bahrain Victorious website. "I was a bit on my own, and then I tried to position myself as well as possible in the right-left combination. I did quite okay but was also quite on the limit."

The German is known as a sprinter who mainly has to rely on the flat stages, but on Friday, he survived a tricky ride. "I think for me it was already a step forward to be in that group. I think in the end, Coquard was a little bit fresher than I was. He is a really good rider in a reduced sprint. Maybe he suffered a bit less, so he has more energy for the sprint. I tried my best. I came close in the end, but I need to say he was a bit stronger than me."

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Narváez was blocked, Vine crashes: UAE experiences unlucky day

In third place, Narváez did excellent business for the GC. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider took away important seconds on his rivals. "The team used all their strength and they did a great job, this was our plan," he told his team's website. "We wanted to go hard into the last climb and then pull until the end for a chance to take the victory or bonus seconds. In the end, okay we didn't get a chance at the stage win but it is positive that we took the bonus seconds."

He did cross the finish line gesticulating wildly because Bauhaus and Coquard were getting in his way: he was clearly furious because a win was no longer in the cards for the Ecuadorian champion. "With the finish turning to the right, it is normal that the rider in front tried to take the shorter line," explained team leader Fabio Baldato. " have spoken to the jury and the president two or three times, and I trust them in the end. They are expert guys who I know well and it is not the case that we look to fight this decision." Bauhaus and Coquard received no penalty, but Laurence Pithie did: the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider was fourth but later relegated for driving Henri Uhlig (Alpecin-Deceuninck) into the fences.

Perhaps even less fortunate was Jay Vine. The Australian crashed and sustained injuries. "He has some abrasions on his hip and knee," said his Italian boss. The former winner had further bad luck with flat tires, but after a check-up at the race doctor, he was able to rejoin the peloton and finish the stage."

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