Compared to yesterday's ”Hell of the North”, today's fourth journey of Tour de France from Cambrai to Reims in the Champagne district was just a 153 kilometer long delicious treat for the sprinters in the peloton. In the meantime, the overall favorites were given a well-deserved chance to lick their wounds while the powerful and explosive riders took advantage of the character of the landscape to take a stage victory and important points for the point classification.

Before the raging finale, Dmitri Champion (Ag2r), Iban Mayoz (Fotton-Servetto), Nicolas Vogondy (Bbox-Bouygues Telecom), Francis de Greef (Omega Pharma-Lotto) og Inaki Isasi (Euskatel) hoped to thwart the obvious plans to take a surprising breakaway win.

However, there was never any doubt about the stage outcome. HTC-Columbia went to the front of the pack with 25 kilometers to go and picked up the pace which made it impossible for the breakaway making the gap last all the way. The five riders were caught three kilometers to go, and in the confusing and disorganized sprint, Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) pushed his bike across the finish line after a long sprint taking his second stage win in this year's Tour de France.

Andy has been in the front of the peloton next to Cancellara and surrounded by his other teammates, the hole day. He finished in 58th place and stands in the overall clasification still in place 6.