Navardauskas wins stage 4 of Circuit Cycliste Sarthe

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Lithuania's Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin Sharp) took the command of the 62nd Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire as he claimed a solo stage win atop the Mont des Avaloirs in Pré-en-Pail on Thursday, taking advantage of his Garmin-Sharp team having outnumbered their rivals in the finale that consisted in five laps of a 10.5km circuit including the highest summit of western France (alt. 416m).

"With four riders in the front group, we were able to control any attack and keep myself and Rohan Dennis covered," Navardauskas said. "I was feeling fresh. Once we came across to Francis Mourey, it was up to me to open the uphill sprint from far out, and that's how I won solo."

The eight-time French champion for cyclo-cross thought he'd repeat the stage win he got at the Circuit de la Sarthe one year ago as he was the last attacker, but he got reined in with two kilometers to go.

For a long time, three riders were off the front: Daniel Oss (BMC Racing), Michael Schwarzmann (NetApp-Endura) and Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert). They got a maximum lead of 4:30 over the bunch led by Movistar in defense of Alex Dowsett's yellow jersey. But the Englishman blew in the first ascent to the Mont des Avaloirs. After the regrouping, Thomas Voeckler attacked with 20km to go. Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp), Brice Feillu (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale) rejoined him, but the peloton chased hard and thus gave Mourey the opportunity of a late attack.

"I went in the second last lap, but I didn't think I'd find myself alone at the front," said Mourey, who was fuming after the finish. "I've missed the win by very little. I won the last stage one year ago, but it doesn't mean I'll do it again. I'm not a machine."

While Garmin-Sharp had Haas and Nathan Brown riding strongly at the service of Navardauskas and Dennis, IAM Cycling was very aggressive in the hills as they had high ambitions for Mathias Frank. "I had good legs but it was really hot today and I cramped," said the Swiss rider.

"We've made the race hard but we needed a longer climb to split the group into pieces. However, I'm happy because I felt good ahead of the Ardennes Classics and the Tour de Romandie." 

Navardauskas was no stranger to racing in this province as he won stage 2 of the Boucles de la Mayenne with La Pomme-Marseille in 2010 prior to turning professional with Garmin-Sharp and coming of age at the Giro d'Italia with two days wearing the pink jersey in 2012 and winning a stage last year.

"Our directeur sportif [Charly Wegelius] had a plan in the bus this morning and it worked out well," said the 26-year-old. "We were in a good position with two riders in the top three on GC, so we had to try something but it was hard to predict how the race would unfold until the last lap. Tomorrow everything is possible."

Garmin-Sharp is in a favorable situation again with Navardauskas leading the race and Rohan Dennis laying in second position at 17 seconds while Frenchmen Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr) and Julien Simon (Cofidis) follow at 18 seconds with only one stage remaining, but it's another hilly one finishing at La Ferté-Bernard.

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