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Belgian cycling star Tom Boonen was just able to keep his yellow jersey in the fourth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, but it was Australian Robbie McEwen who claimed the stage victory.

McEwen from the Belgian Davitamon-Lotto team outsprinted all his rivals with ease at the end of the 207 km stage which ended in Saint-Quentin, France.

The stage took off in the Belgian city of Huy and thousands of Belgian cycling fans turned up to catch a glimpse of their idol Boonen, who clinched the coveted yellow jersey in the Dutch town of Valkenburg Tuesday.

"I, a Belgian, will ride across Belgium wearing the yellow jersey. It's something fantastic which happens only every ten years, " the world champion told reporters before the race started.

"It's something very special which can't be compared to winning the Tour of Flanders or becoming world champion," he said.

It was the first time the star from Quick Step was wearing the leader's jersey in the world's biggest cycling event.

As a five-men breakaway dominated Wednesday's race, Boonen and the other sprinters did not have to bother with the intermediate sprints.

Only the first three riders at each intermediate sprint take extra seconds for the overall standings and extra points for the green jersey.

Spaniard Egoi Martinez and Frenchmen Laurent Lefevre were the two strongest men up front, but the peloton gobbled up every single attacker in the last 10 km.

Boonen was unable to control the final sprint and only managed fifth place, which left him without a stage victory in this edition of the Tour.

His Norwegian rival Thor Hushovd, who was only seven seconds behind Boonen in the overall standings, would have had enough with third place to reclaim the lead but finished fourth.

Hushovd was disqualified later on for irregular sprinting.

It was McEwen who shot ahead like a rocket in the final sprint, taking his tenth career stage victory in the Tour de France.

Isaac Galvez of Spain came second and his compatriot Oscar Freire took third.

In the overall standings, Boonen holds a one second advantage over Australia's Michael Rogers. American George Hincapie follows in third position, five seconds behind, with Thor Hushovd in fourth, seven seconds behind.

(Xinhua News Agency?July 6, 2006)