Pierre Latour started stage 4 of Iturria-Basque in 9th place overall. Judging by the aggressive race he showed on the 185.6km from Vitoria Gasteiz to Zamudio, he was planning to improve his position further over the six days of racing. However, a high-speed crash on the descent with just over 10 km to the finish line ended the Frenchman's dream of a Spanish hill race.

Latour was sitting near the back of a group that included the leading riders who were rapidly descending toward the line from the final climb of the Vivero. At that point, he was chasing a group that included Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education - Easy Post), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates), and Victor Lafaye (Cofidis), who was riding alone in front

Latucci was in the lead.

Latour crashed on a relatively straight section with about 11km to go, skidding across the pavement a few meters ahead of his bike.

The 28-year-old re-entered the race and finished stage 4 in 107th place. This was more than 9 minutes behind stage winner Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers). Martinez won the sprint from the group Latour was in when he crashed, dropping Latour to 45th overall.

The Total Energy team leader's overall hopes were ended, and consequently so was his race.

"After a crash on stage 4, Pierre Latour suffered multiple burns on his body. 'He will not be available for the start tomorrow morning. Pierre is fine.

Prior to the crash, Latour's team was in the lead group and was clearly moving up the overall standings on the final climb. At the start of the stage, there was plenty of room to make up ground, as the ninth place to race leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was only 25 seconds behind. On a steep section of the stage, Latour accelerated and moved ahead of him, but Total Energy's Roglic quickly jumped on Latour as well.

The strong performance on stage 4 was due to Latour finishing with a select group that included Roglic after his 6th place finish on stage 3. This was a good sign for Latour, who finished in the top five in the Etoile de Besseges and Tour de la Provence and 14th in Paris-Nice.

The rider, who moved from AG2R La Mondiale to Total Energies last year, had his best start to a season since winning the best young rider award at the 2018 Tour de France.