The latest from the fourth stage of the Tour de France (all times local):
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2:43 p.m.
Raymond Poulidor, the eternal Tour de France runner-up, was left baffled by the organizers' decision to neutralize the third stage of the race because of a massive crash.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said the 10-minute interruption of the race on Monday was made to ensure the riders' safety. In Poulidor's opinion, it went against cycling's etiquette.
"Prudhomme said it himself, riders are like wild animals, they don't want to stop after a crash, they want to go for the kill," Poulidor told The Associated Press at the start of Tuesday's stage to Cambrai.
Poulidor, who secured eight podium finishes at the Tour during his career, said the race would have never been stopped in his racing days. At the 1968 Tour, he was involved in a serious crash after a motorbike knocked him over and fell on top of him.
"During my time, when a rider was down he was attacked," Poulidor said. "When I was hit by the motorbike, I was almost dead on the side of the road and my rivals attacked. When I had a puncture, I was attacked, when I stopped for a piss, I was attacked. And that was normal."
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12:05 p.m.
Back in the yellow jersey for the first time since winning the Tour de France two years ago, British rider Chris Froome leads out the peloton Tuesday for the fourth stage of the race.
Froome took the jersey from Fabian Cancellara in Monday's crash-marred third stage, and holds a slim one-second lead over German rider Tony Martin and 13 seconds over American rider Tejay Van Garderen.
After two days of chaotic racing, stage 4 promises to be another eventful one. At 223.5 kilometres it is the longest of the race and features several treacherous cobblestone sections that should ensure some nerve-jangling moments for a peloton somewhat banged-up after Monday's heavy crash took down some 20 riders.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.