August 29, 2003, (Arvord, France) РAs expected, the fourth stage of the Troph̩e d'Or had no serious impact on the general classification of the six-stage race held until Sunday in the centre of France. But the Australian festival went on, as Oenone Wood won the stage and her teammate Olivia GolIan kept the overall leader's Golden jersey. France's Catherine Marsal of team RONA/Esker finished second of the stage, in front of Australian Alison Wright (RRG Nobili) and Marsal's teammate and fellow Frenchwoman Magali Le Floc'h. RONA/Esker placed three riders in the top ten, as German Karen Bockel finished seventh of the stage.

Alison Wright kept her points leader's green jersey, in front of Magali Le Floc'h, and Oenone Wood kept her polka dot best climber's jersey. Today's stage, the longest of the race with 114 kilometres, was raced on a very flat course. But narrow and winding roads made it very difficult for the riders to position themselves in the peloton, but facilitated control by the Australians, who wanted to protect Gollan's leader jersey. There were some attacks starting after mid-point, but they were all short-lived, as the Aussies occupied the front of the filed and offered effective protection to their leader. The only real action came from RONA/Esker, starting at kilometre 91, when Cathy Marsal and Magali Le Floc'h escaped the Aussies' vigilance. Well, almost. Australia's Katie MacTier went with them and diligently sat on their wheels. The gap eventually increased to about 15 seconds, but the wind limited the Frenchwomen's break to 7 kilometres. Less than 10 kilometres after Marsal and Le Floc'h were reeled in, their New Zealand teammate Meshy Holt attacked, with South Africa's Diane Emery (Internations 1) in her wake and, of course, Katie MacTier. The peloton reacted quickly. The plot would thicken until the final sprint.

“Oenone Wood launched the sprint from very far, like 400 metres”, explained Cathy Marsal shortly after the race. Alison Wright took her wheel and I took Wright's. I felt good enough to jump them at the finish, but Wright exploded 200 metres from the finish. I had to go around her and I take the wind. I had a 10-metre gap between Wood and me, it was too much, too late.”

Tomorrow's stage, Aubigny-sur-Nère – Aubigny-sur-Nère, is the mountain stage of the 2003 Trophée d'Or. At 96.4 kilometres long, it boasts a few “Hors catégorie” climbs, but they are sufficiently far from the finish for the dropped racers to have time to come back.