Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) admitted he was behind on stage 4 of the Tour de France when Jumbo Visma and Wout Van Aert caught fire on the final climb before the Calais finish.

The two-time Tour de France winner usually attacks sharply in aggressive races. This time he had to defend and hope that overall rivals Jonas Vingegaard/Primos Roglic (Jumbo Visma) and Adam Yates/Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) would not gain time away.

Luckily for Pogachar, Van Aert attacked alone on the final climb with 10km to go, killing any chance his team had of making time.

Van Aert was able to break away on his own, leaving the lead group eight seconds behind. Pogachar finished safely in a chase group of 113 riders and immediately jumped onto the podium for the white jersey ceremony for the Best Young Athlete Award.

Pogachar admitted that he was lucky to escape his rivals. He highlighted the contrast in tactics between Van Aert and Jumbo Visma.

"I was too far back to follow, so I just tried to get to the top as fast as I could and see what was going on," he told several media outlets, including Cycling News, in the mixed zone on the podium.

"In the end, Wout Van Aert even dropped his own teammate, so it was okay. When I saw that, I was more calm and less stressed.

"I dug big and deep for the first time on the climb. I felt good, my legs were fine, and my lungs were clearly working. I only lost a few places before the climb, but I came up from pretty far back and proved I was in good shape."

Pogachar was aware of Jumbo Visma's strength, but tried to put it in a good light. Perhaps he hoped his rivals would take control of the Tour de France before he cut his own card in the decisive mountain stage and final time trial.

"They are really strong, especially Van Aert, who crushed everyone today. That's a good sign."

Pogachar will face Jumbo Visma on Wednesday's cobbled stage. He seems to have preferred defensive tactics to going on the attack.

"Tomorrow we just have to survive," he said of the cobblestone stage. It's going to be a big stage and I hope we don't crash or something big happens."

"I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be a really hard stage for everyone and it's going to be a great show on TV."