At 177.1km plus an 8.3km neutral zone before the real start, stage 4 of the Tour de France was the longest race in Women's World Tour history. And instead of GC favorites battling for the stage win on the steep climb to the finish to Rodez, Yara Castellaine (Phoenix-Desseuninck) was able to celebrate her first career victory with a solo attack.

Castellaine jumped out of a 14-man breakaway group when her companions began to stall on the Côte de Moiraze second class climb, 20km from the finish. At the victory press conference, Castelláin thanked his teammate Mart Truyen and the team staff.

"I think this is the longest distance I have ever ridden. I don't like to run 180 kilometers in training because it's boring and I don't like it. Today I just saved my energy and ate and drank as much as I could. The sport director and performance coach would make a plan for that every day and I just followed the plan. I think that's why I had enough energy in the finals," explained Castelline.

When Castellaine and Truyen joined the breakaway group on the first climb of the day, a stage win was not on their minds. Instead, they wanted to defend the mountains jersey that had been awarded to their team since stage 2.

"I wanted to take points for the mountains jersey and I was really happy to have Marthe with me. I'm not explosive enough to beat the other girls and they gave me minutes. Having my teammates with me meant I didn't have to push all day and I was able to save my legs. On the last two climbs, she said to me, "You know what? This victory was not mine alone, it was won by the whole team.

On the Côte de Moiraze, the final sectional climb, Castellaine rode hard up the 4.6km climb from the bottom, slowly but surely pulling away from the rest of the field. Only Audrey Cordon-Lago (Human Powered Health) tried to follow her, but had to let her go halfway up the climb.

"At first I just tried to get to the front of the pack and speed up a little bit, then when there were two of us I attacked again, then once I was alone I just focused and rode as hard as I could in the TT to the finish. The last few meters were really great," Castellane recalled of the final.

Her victory marked the first time in the modern Tour de France femme that a rider from an early breakaway group won a stage. The size of the breakaway group, the length of the stage, and the eight days of racing contributed to this victory.

"It was a pretty big group today, almost all the teams were there, some with two riders, and everyone was really well organized. I think the peloton could have left us alone because the stages were so long, it's really hard to race for eight days and give it your all."

For several years, Castellane was best known as a cyclocross rider, finishing fifth in the world championships three years in a row from 2020 to 2022. Before the 2023 season, however, she and her coach decided to switch. She was consistent in the spring season, finishing 10th at the Fleche Wallonne, but the 25-year-old had never won on the road before.

"Last year I proved I was good on the road, so I changed my plans a bit to focus on the road. After the spring classics I was always there but I was a little frustrated because I couldn't finish the race. To win like this now is crazy and unbelievable."

The win was made even more special by the fact that Castellane's family was there to greet her at the finish.

"My mom and dad have been here all week and my brother is coming next week. My family means everything to me, so I'm really happy that they're here and that we can celebrate together," Castelline said.