Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) labelled the finish to Stage 4 of the 2023 Tour de France as «carnage» after three crashes on the motor-racing circuit in Nogaro. The irony was that the day had been almost totally becalmed until that point, but the intensity ratcheted up a notch in the final few kilometres and it triggered rider upon rider hitting the deck as the pack made their way round the tarmac track. Ad Cavendish's fifth-placed finish — one better than the day before — means he will have to wait for a record 35th stage win, but the circumstances made it a tough ask for the Brit to triumph, as Jasper Philipsen took victory, making it back-to-back stage wins for the Belgian, of Alpecin-Deceuninck.