Mats Pedersen left the final stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe on Friday with "a few scrapes," not a victory trophy.

Pedersen caught up with a nine-man breakaway group in the final 9.6km to take the overall win. However, with 4km to go, some 20 riders, including Pedersen, collapsed on the rain-soaked surface, leaving a handful of stage win contenders safely in front. They included Olaf Kooij (Jumbo Visma) and Xandro Moulis (Alpecin Phoenix).

"Everything is fine. I'm not injured, I'm fine. It's a shame to lose a race like this, but at least the crash wasn't so bad for me. A few days of recovery and I should be fine.

A little over an hour after the chaotic stage finish, his team provided an update, saying, "Mads only suffered a minor abrasion. Alex Kirsch also crashed and needed stitches on his chin and eyebrow at the finish, but other than that he is fine."

Trek-Segafredo also said that both riders will be ready for Paris-Roubaix on the 17th. Pedersen is aiming for monuments this season, finishing 6th in Milan-San Remo, 7th in Ghent-Wevelgem, and 8th in Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Pedersen managed to re-ride his bike after crashing and finished 5 minutes behind. Other riders in the top 10 were Kevin Vokelan (Arke Samsic), who moved from 2nd to 19th overall; Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers), from 5th to 25th overall; Alexis Gujar (B&B Hotels p/b KTM), from 6th to 26th overall; and Sean Quinn (EF Education Easy Post) dropped from 8th to 21st overall.

The big winner was Kooi, who took his second stage win of the event and moved up from 9th overall to the GC win.

"It was a nervous day, partly because of the weather," the 20-year-old Kooi said later in a team statement. "I had a minor crash early in the stage, and I was very grateful that Rick and Lars joined the breakaway group. When the breakaway group was caught, it looked like we were headed for a group sprint. But there was a big crash and the result was different.

"It's not the prettiest way to win.

The wet surface made the local lap of La Chapelle St. Toban, the finish line, very tricky. On Friday morning, Storm Diego blew into Europe from the Atlantic Ocean, bringing heavy wind and rain to France. Organizers shortened the total distance of stage 4 by about 20 km to 136 km, but the weather was a factor in the final outcome.