Tour de France : Victory Salute Almost Costs Portuguese in Fourth Stage

Acacio da Silva of Portugal raised his arms triumphantly as he approached the finish line, a gesture that nearly cost him victory in the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycle race Wednesday.

Da Silva’s celebration was a trifle premature as Steven Rooks of the Netherlands swooped down on him at the finish line, with both appearing to cross at exactly the same time.

Rooks thought for a moment that he had won and raised his arms in triumph, but after the initial confusion, the Portuguese was finally ruled the winner.

Da Silva’s team leader, Sean Kelly of Ireland, placed third in the massed sprint at the end of the short, relatively flat 98-mile stage from Le Mans to Evreux in northwestern France.

Kelly said he refrained from trying to win the stage himself. “I couldn’t attempt to sprint for the finish too soon in case I spoiled Da Silva’s chances,” he said. “If I had, someone might have got past me and beaten him.”

Dutchman Teun van Vliet retained the race leader’s yellow jersey with an 18-second advantage over Eric Vanderaerden of Belgium but his position was seriously threatened by a lengthy break from the pack led by Bruno Cornillet of France.

Cornillet, accompanied by Frans Maassen of the Netherlands and Silviano Giuliani of Italy, held a lead of around a minute on the pack for most of the race after surging away at the 37-mile mark.