Tour de France Femmes: Marlen Reusser claims stage four

Switzerland's Marlen Reusser broke clear to win stage four of the Tour de France Femmes as Marianne Vos retained the yellow jersey.

Reusser (SD Worx) produced an impressive ride to beat France’s Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) by one minute and 24 seconds over the 127-kilometre stage from Troyes to Bar-sur-Aube.

"The team had a plan to make a hard race. We just said attack and one of us would go and I was lucky it was me," said 30-year-old Reusser.

"We have an open-race strategy so everyone is allowed to win a stage. We all work very well together and help each other.

"I’m really grateful and thankful to my team. I think in this tour it was the kind of stage that proved the kind of rider I am."

Team-mates Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering both finished inside the top 10 as Alena Amialiusik (Canyon//Sram) completed the podium in third.

Dutch rider Vos finished fifth to retain her overall race lead of 16 seconds from Silvia Persico (Valcar – Travel & Service) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//Sram Racing).

Vos said: "We were quite safe as a team. We tried to stay in the right positions. We tried to stay in contention for the win as well, but when Reusser attacked it was a a very strong moment.

"It’s difficult to cover everything but to keep the yellow jersey is a very nice thing.

"The team kept me out of trouble all day and that was the most important thing."