Slagter wins stage 4 in Paris-Nice

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Tom Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp) outsprinted breakaway companion Geraint Thomas (Sky) to win a hard-fought stage 4 at Paris-Nice. Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) placed third at five seconds after attacking from a 27-strong chase group in the final kilometer and just holding off their pursuit at the finish.

The next group to finish, 26 riders at 18 seconds behind Slagter and Thomas, contained overnight race leader John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) but with time bonuses factored in Thomas took over the yellow jersey from the German by three seconds. Stage winner Slagter moved up to third overall at four seconds.

The splits in the peloton were formed by the day's final climb, the category-2 rated Côte du Mont Brouilly, whose summit was situated 14km from the finish. Slagter attacked near the summit and crossed the KOM line alone with Thomas a lone chaser in hot pursuit. The Sky Welshman soon made contact with Slagter on the technical descent and the duo worked smoothly together through to the finish line.

Thomas opened up the two-man sprint and Slagter powered around the Sky rider for the stage win, as the duo just managed to hold off the first chase group.

"I know Thomas pretty well, and I knew he's fast and strong - he's a really good rider," said Slagter. "I knew if I wanted to beat him I had to wait and wait, and choose the right moment to sprint or else I'd lose. It went perfect."

The first chase group swelled in numbers from four to more than 20 as the road levelled out in the finale, but cohesion wasn't the order of the day which played into the hands of Slagter and Thomas.

"I can't believe it. It's my first race of the season except for one day in Mallorca," said Slagter. "The first stages were really hectic, you can't really see how good you are. Today was the best possibility to do something. That [final] climb suits me really well, but I didn't expect to win."

Degenkolb crested the final ascent more than 30 seconds behind Slagter, but with only one teammate along side in the second chase group Giant-Shimano didn't quite have the horsepower to keep the German in yellow for another day.

"Unbelievable. Friday before the race started, I was told I was going to lead the team, which was big," said Thomas, the new GC leader. "Paris-Nice is one of the biggest stage races in the world behind the Tour and the Giro. To wear the jersey is great, I'm really happy."

Richie Porte, the 2013 Paris-Nice champion, was slated to lead Sky in defense of his title, but after Chris Froome withdrew from Tirreno-Adriatico due to a back injury Porte was moved to the squad's roster in Italy. Thomas, however, has proved to be a capable GC contender in his own right.

"Coming here I knew I was going well, and was going to play a key role to help Richie," said Thomas. "I knew I'd be thereabouts anyway. With him moving to Tirreno, it was a great opportunity for me, and like I said, it's unbelievable. It's great."

Hilly finale on tap

The riders at Paris-Nice set out from Nevers amidst another day of beautiful weather and faced the hilliest stage thus far in the Race to the Sun. Four categorised climbs were situated in the final 64km of the stage with the fourth and final ascent, the category 2 Côte du Mont Brouilly, the most difficult. The summit of the three-kilometre climb, featuring a leg-snapping 25 percent gradient sector inside the final kilometre, is positioned just 14km from the finish which would prove pivotal in determining the stage outcome.

The day's early break formed 18km into the stage with the quartet of Valerio Agnoli (Astana), Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing), Spanish road champion Jesus Herrada (Movistar) and Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar), on the attack for the second straight stage, going clear. Both Didier and Herrada started the day 40 seconds out of the leader's jersey, held by John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano), and while their maximum lead pushed out over six minutes their advantage had been reduced to a very manageable 55 seconds as Agnoli led the escape group over the day's second KOM, the category 3 Col du Champ Juin at 45km to go.

While Team Giant-Shimano had assumed the pace making duties earlier in the stage, Team Sky came to the fore on the ascent of the day's second climb and stayed prominently on the front through the run-in to the final ascent.

The break rolled through the day's second and final sprint bonus line at 22.5km to go with a 20-second lead, but the Team Sky-led peloton neutralised their escape five kilometres later along the winding, narrow country roads as the final ascent loomed.

On the climb proper AG2R La Mondiale came to the fore at 16km to go in service of Carlos Betancur, while the peloton began to splinter in their wake.

With 15.5km remaining Betancur launched an attack, but his move went nowhere and was quickly neutralised by a fairly large chase group led by Sky's Geraint Thomas.

Garmin-Sharp's Tom Jelte Slagter countered Betancur's move just prior to the summit, and the Dutchman rode alone over the KOM with Geraint Thomas chasing alone.

Thomas bridged to Slagter on the upper slopes of the narrow, technical descent, while an elite 20-rider chase group came together in pursuit of the two leaders.

The chase group wasn't completely cohesive, however, and as the road widened and flattened out a large, second chase group containing race leader John Degenkolb was clawing its way back to the fore and trailed the two leaders by 30 seconds with six kilometres remaining.

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) pushed the pace in the first chase group, but his efforts came to naught in approach to the flamme rouge. On the now wide-open terrain the first chase group had the two leaders in plain sight, while the second chase group had the first chase group in their crosshairs. The gaps continued to fall in the final kilometer, but separation ultimately remained through to the finish line with Slagter winning big in his stage race debut for Garmin-Sharp.

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