20-year-old Danny Van Poppel got a great chance to test himself against some of the fastest sprinters in the world in today's fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse. Having made a plan to follow Peter Sagan, the young Dutchman again proved his good form by taking sixth.

The 160.4-kilometer stage four contained the least amount of climbing since the opening time trial: it was time for the sprinters to play in Switzerland.

Mirroring yesterday’s start, today’s early breakaway comprised two riders, and also similar to stage three, it was a hopeless endeavor. The pair built a small lead and continued ahead of a nonchalant peloton until the closing kilometers. However, it was never a question whether the two escapees would be caught, it was only a matter of when.

As the stage neared the end, the provocative peloton toyed with the breakaway’s lead; they had the pair in sight with 20 kilometers to go, but it was not until the final 10 kilometers that the snag was made. With the two back in the fold, the sprinters’ teams dutifully moved to the front, the speed intensified, and the fight for positioning began.

For Danny van Poppel, 20, it was a great opportunity to test his form against the experienced legs of some of the best sprinters. The headwind made the last kilometers extremely dicey and difficult to maintain a front position. With help from Trek Factory Racing, and his own savoir-faire, Van Poppel started his sprint on a perfect wheel.

“In the sprint I followed Sagan, I was in very good position," he said. "I gave everything. The whole team helped me, even the climbers, which surprised me a little. It was a good feeling to see the whole team give everything for me.

“At the end Fabian [Cancellara] came to the right and started a train, but Saxo came fast on the left, so I jumped on them. It was really crazy and the last corners were dangerous. The only thing I needed to do was follow Sagan, and I got on his wheel.”

As Sagan started his sprint the door opened for Danny, and he jumped. At the same moment, on the left, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) kicked – then with the sprint already at maximum speed he grabbed an extra gear and left the others in his wake. It was vintage Cavendish. Rounding out the top three was Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) in second and Peter Sagan (Cannondale), third. Danny would hold on for sixth.

“Today was a normal sprint race and QuickStep controlled it," Van Poppel said. "We did not have much to do until the very end. There are a lot of good sprinters here - I was thinking to myself during the race that every team has a good sprinter - so I am happy with sixth place.”

The peloton arrived in the same time and there were no changes to the top overall classification, with the exception, Peter Sagan, who moved four seconds closer to yellow with time gained in the finish.