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Critérium du Dauphiné 2015: Stage 4

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Stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, 228 kilometres from Anneyron to Sisteron.

As we pick up the action, the Dauphiné peloton has just left Anneyron for the start of the longest stage of the race. At 228 kilometres in length and with the third category Col de Lescou and fourth category Col de Pré-Guittard and Côte de la Marquise on the route, it is perhaps a day for the baroudeurs, particularly given the dearth of sprinters in the race. The Cofidis team of Nacer Bouhanni will doubtless have to organise the chase and questions linger as to whether they are up to the task.

The general classification picture was redrawn after yesterday's team time trial, where BMC emerged victorious ahead of Astana and Movistar. Rohan Dennis moves into the maillot jaune ahead of his teammate Tejay van Garderen, while Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) loiters with intent in fourth place, just four seconds back. The top ten on GC is as follows this morning:

Chris Froome's Team Sky and the Katusha squad of Joaquim Rodriguez were among those to struggle in the team time trial, and the lie of the land among the men expected to contest for overall honours here and in July looks like this after stage 3:

 

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Keizer's LottoNL-Jumbo squad are making the news this morning.  The Dutch team has announced its departure from the Movement for Credible Cycling with immediate effect, citing concerns at the body's additional, voluntary cortisol testing following George Bennett's enforced withdrawal on the eve of the Giro d'Italia, not to mention Theo Bos' on the eve of the 2013 Vuelta. Mike Tyson liked to say that "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." In cycling, it seems, everybody likes the MPCC rules until they apply to them. LottoNL-Jumbo are the third team to leave the MPCC this year after Lampre-Merida and Bardiani-CSF.

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After a solid team time trial at Montagny on Tuesday afternoon, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) met with the press at his team hotel last night  to discuss his preparations for the defence of his Tour de France crown. The Sicilian revealed, too, that the squad had this week met with researchers from the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne as part of the conditions attached to their WorldTour licence, and you can read the full story here.

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Romain Bardet and Ag2r-La Mondiale conceded a minute in Tuesday's team time trial, but the Frenchman looked to strike an optimistic note when he spoke to reporters afterwards, drawing inspiration from the dramatic final day of racing that propelled Andrew Talansky to overall victory last year. We're a bit comprised and the gap is more than a minute, which is a lot for a race of just one week. We don't know but last year we had a crazy last stage when Talansky won the race. We'll see how the next few days go," he said. Read the full story here.

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Away from the Dauphiné, Fabian Cancellara's participation in the Tour de Suisse is questionable after the Trek Factory Racing rider was forced to withdraw from Thursday's GP Gippingen due to a bacterial throat infection.

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Chris Froome sits 35 seconds off Dennis and van Garderen following a low-key showing from Sky in yesterday's team time trial, which saw Peter Kennaugh surrender his overall lead. "Obviously we were hoping for better day but we had a few issues out on the road. We went a little bit hard in the first part and blew a few guys there, and then we had one or two mechanicals in the mix," Froome said afterwards. Thursday's demanding stage to Pra-Loup - a dry run for stage 17 of this year's Tour de France - will provide the first real opportunity for Froome to recoup his losses and test himself against van Garderen, Vincenzo Nibali et al.

Yesterday's team time trial was also something of a dress rehearsal for July, of course, though ASO's Thierry Gouvenou has warned that the 28-kilometre test from Vannes to Plumelec on stage 9 of the Tour will be even more demanding. “The big difference is the finish on the Côte de Cadoudal (1.7km at 6.2%). There wasn’t an obstacle like that at the Dauphine, where the course was more rolling, especially in the first ten kilometres,” Gouvenou told L’Équipe. “The false flats leading into the climbs at the Tour are also tougher than what we had yesterday. Beyond that, the distance is almost identical and we tried to draw up a similar parcours for both team time trials, with similar changes in direction.”

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Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal) has abandoned the Dauphiné. The Belgian pulled out of the race at the feed zone.

Up front, meanwhile, his Lotto-Soudal teammate Tosh Van der Sande is still clutching a six-minute lead over the bunch in the company of Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo). The pair are on the lower slopes of the day's first categorised climb, the Col de Lescou. The 3.9km climb has an average gradient of 4.7%.

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“It’s a pretty good course with some small bumps that can help me. I’ve been looking forward to this stage, hopefully we can make it today. If it’s all going well, hopefully it comes down to a sprint and then it’s all for me,” Boasson Hagen told ITV ahead of the stage.

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Joey Rosskopf puts in a long turn on the front for BMC at the head of the peloton. Rohan Dennis' teammates have struck up a decent working arrangement with Cofidis and MTN-Qhubeka.

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Nacer Bouhanni wears the green jersey of points leader and the Frenchman is in fact wearing a skinsuit today, showing that he means business. Whether he will get the bunch sprint he so desires, however, remains to be seen. This is an impressive show of defiance from Van der Sande and Keizer, though the sting in the tail of this stage might prove their undoing.

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BMC's Joey Rosskopf keeps working on the front of the peloton. As it stands, his teammate Rohan Dennis would cede the maillot jaune to Keizer, who began the day 3:42 down on general classification.

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Keizer attacks twice and drops Van Der Sande at the second attempt, but his lead is now just 54 seconds over the peloton, which is led by Cannondale-Garmin into the base of the climb.

Cyril Gautier (Europcar) attacks on the climb and opens a small gap over the peloton, where a Tinkoff-Saxo rider was felled by a crash, though seemingly without serious consequence.

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Gautier is swallowed by a small chase group as he crests the summit, but they will surely all be swept up by the bunch on the descent that follows.

Peter Kennaugh (Sky) leads the peloton, where it seems all of the GC contenders have made it over the climb together.

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Julien Alaphilippe follows Kelderman at a distance of ten metres, as the front of the peloton fragements.

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Gallopin is caught in the finishing straight as Tyler Farrar leads out the sprint.

Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r-La Mondiale) opens the sprint with 200 metres as Bouhanni sits in fourth wheel.

Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) wins stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Who needs a lead-out train? Bouhanni bides his time and chooses his moment perfectly to beat Jonas Vangenechten (IAM Cycling) and Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) in the sprint. Boasson Hagen was well-placed but could only manage 4th on the stage.

Rohan Dennis finished four places ahead of his teammate Tejay van Garderen in the main peloton and so he will retain the yellow jersey this evening.

Result:

General classification:

Bouhanni claimed that sprint quite comfortably in the end, as he out-stripped Boasson Hagen and Mezgec in the final 150 metres, though Vangenechten made up considerable ground on the Frenchman with his own late charge.

After a difficult start to his season, Bouhanni will go to the Tour de France with his confidence bolstered considerably. There may be a dearth of top-level sprinters at this Dauphine, but with Marcel Kittel still struggling for form, Bouhanni will fancy his chances of opening his account at La Grande Boucle against Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel and company.

“It was pretty calm, it was very controlled. We let two guys go up the road then Cofidis and ourselves controlled it all day. There was a fight before the last climb but before that it was almost ‘boring’ you could say,” says Rohan Dennis, who sounded an optimistic note about his prospects on tomorrow’s mountain stage to Pra-Loup.

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of a stage that suddenly caught fire in the final 15 kilometres. We'll be back with more tomorrow but before that you can read a full report here, and as ever you can find all of the news and reaction from the Dauphiné on Cyclingnews.

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