Alex Baudin defended his lead in the King of the Mountains competition and Sean Quinn went on the attack to move up to second on the general classification during Stage 4 of the Tour de France.

Sean started the stage with the dream of becoming the first American to wear the yellow jersey since Greg LeMond. The Californian came 28 seconds short, after a huge effort in the break, backed by his teammates Michael Valgren and Georg Steinhauser. The three EF Education-EasyPost riders broke clear on the rolling, sun-scorched roads out of Carcassonne and got away with a group of 33. Sean was the second-best-ranked rider on GC in the group, just behind Torstein Træen. Our squad's mission was to try to drop the Norwegian in the finale. They gave it their all, taking massive pulls to control attacks over the Col de Coudons and Col de Montségur, but Sean couldn't get away. He came to the finish with the lead group and went for the sprint for the stage win and came seventh. Sean will have more chances to fight for yellow in the coming days. He is now 3 minutes and 22 seconds ahead of third place, going into Stage 5.

Now, Alex wants to defend his jersey into the Pyrenees.

"It's easy to be motivated when you're second at the Tour de France. I've had knee problems for a few years, and had to do a lot of work you don't normally have to do as a pro cyclist. I spent a lot of time with no real outside motivation. That's what's cool about having a strong mentality: you do everything for yourself, you show up for yourself every day. I feel like I did that for two years with basically no positive reinforcement that I was doing the right thing or getting promising results. It's not like I got a great result today, but it's cool to be in the mix, and to have guys working for me who I admire myself.

“I'll look back on that day for a long time. Having Valgren and Steinhauser commit fully like that was pretty cool. They are two super strong cyclists and great guys themselves. I've got to return the favor at some point. But in the end it didn't work out. I couldn't drop this guy from Uno-X. When the three Trek guys told me they were all-in for Mads, I thought I'd try sprinting for the stage, but I didn't really have the legs.

"We heard the yellow jersey gap was opening, so we decided to commit. Valgren and Steinhauser just ripped it up from the bottom of the climb. I put in a dig or two and tried to see if I could drop this guy, but he was strong today. It wasn't really happening. That was our card and I committed to it. There was nothing we could do to drop him. We've got a few more days to try.

"Being second feels pretty much the same as being 56th, or whatever I was yesterday. It doesn't change your life. I'm still the same guy. I'm just super lucky to have guys like Georg and Michael commit to me like that. That means a lot. I am a little disappointed I didn't get yellow and didn't win the stage. Trek was super strong today, and so was Torstein. Maybe in a few days we'll see how the race develops.

"It could be interesting — we're something like seven and a half minutes up on the big GC riders. We'll take it a day at a time.” – Sean Quinn

"We worked well together. On the climb, there were some guys moving, and we kind of missed out. And then we had so much time on the peloton that we started to think about yellow with Sean – if we could drop the guy from Norway. We didn't manage, but I still think we gave it a really good try. Georg was super strong. I rode the last climb, trying to set up Sean, but it's the Tour. It's not easy. I think we did well." – Michael Valgren

"It was cool. I gave everything for Sean. I don't think I know anybody who would have deserved it more. So I suffered a lot for him today. There was a group of three guys up front, and my legs just weren't good enough, so all I could do was give it my all before the last long climb –  and that's what I did. I gave it everything on my own to try to help Sean and Michael. When the goal is the most famous jersey in cycling, that's a good motivator." – Georg Steinhauser

"It was a great day. I heard my name called out a lot from the roadside and that’s nice.

“I was expecting a longer battle for the breakaway and a much tougher day. In the end, it was a fairly quiet day, shall we say, though we were still riding quite fast. That said, defending the jersey wasn’t down to me. So I’m really happy to still be here.

“Tomorrow, there aren’t many points up for grabs, so we can keep it fairly easily, so to speak. And after that, it’ll all come down to the Tourmalet. I’ll need to be strong." – Alex Baudin

"There's not much worse than being second on the Tour de France. We had the right guys in the break and they did a good job. Sean was really good. He just needed that bit more to get ahead, and after that it was what it was.

"We were in the game. Sean, Georg, and Michael were there. Obviously the heat was a big factor. We had in mind that the yellow jersey is always special – taking it is almost rarer than winning a stage. We've managed it the last couple of years. Once the break went, I saw the gap sitting at 3:30, and I was pretty convinced it would stay there, with Pogačar pulling like he was. So it was all-in for the stage, and you keep Valgren and Georg in play much more.

"Then, once the gap blew out, the race kind of changed. It was more about trying to find a way to crack Træen, which wasn't easy. He is where he is on GC because he's already ridden faster than Sean so far. He is obviously a real talent. He can climb. Sean gave it a good crack on the climb, but there were gaps every now and again — obviously he was giving it his all.

"We thought it was possible today. Andreas and I spoke about it last night. You have to be in a certain group; there's only a certain number of riders strong enough to go in the break, and he was one of the best-placed in that group to manage it. Sean has dealt with injuries and so on, and now he's showing the best form he's had with us, consistently, since he came back, which is great. He's a great kid. He is good to have around. I hope for some big success for him." – Tom Southam, sports director

Michael Valgren did a huge turn up the final climb to try to set up Sean Quinn for an attack. After almost 150 kilometers of racing, driving the break in 40-degree heat, the Dane pushed over 450 watts for seven minutes up the slopes of the Col de Montségur. Michael won stages of Tirreno-Adriatico and the Giro d'Italia earlier this season and would love to add a Tour stage win to his extensive list of achievements.

The Tour de France is best enjoyed by the roadside with friends, family, and a great picnic. Luckily, our feed zone today was right beside a feast. We sat down at a table in the shade beside a farmers' field and swapped predictions about how the race would unfold over icy melon and a little wine from the surrounding vineyards. Everyone was impressed by the American in the break and wanted to know if Alex could hold on to the maillot à pois (polka dot jersey) As we raced off to hand out bidons, they handed us a bottle of wine and a straw hat decked out in the bleu, blanc, et rouge (blue, white, and red).

After a hot day of racing, a cool smoothie is the perfect treat to bring your core temperature down, pack in some vitamins, minerals, and healthy carbs, and rehydrate. Carbs are even easier to digest in liquid form, especially if your gut is stressed. This is our riders' favorite post-race smoothie. 

Ingredients

1 cantaloupe melon

1 honeydew melon

1 lime

1 lemon

50 g honey

600 ml apple juice

50 g super greens

Method

Scoop the flesh of the cantaloupe and honeydew melon into a blender (remove seeds and rind first).

Juice the lime and lemon and add to the blender.

Add the honey, apple juice, and super greens. Blend with ice until smooth.

Adjust consistency with extra apple juice if too thick.

Serve chilled.

A baroudeur races with instinct and aggression rather than calculation. The French word used to describe these fan-favorite racers originates in the Arabic word for gunpowder — bārūd. French soldiers borrowed the term and used it to describe the noise and chaos of battle, spelling it baroude. A baroudeur was someone who would run towards the gunpowder, a tough soldier of fortune who relished the fight. In the world of cycling today, it carries many of the same connotations. Sean Quinn is one.