Paris-Nice: Cort wins stage 4 in Pélussin

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Magnus Cort (Astana Pro Team) stole the show to claim stage 4 at Paris-Nice, first surviving from the day's main break before attacking his companions inside the closing stages.

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) set off in pursuit of the Astana rider, but he was unable to match the Dane on the long drag to the line in Pélussin and would eventually finish second. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) claimed third, while overnight race leader Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo Visma) cracked during the stage and slipped out of the yellow jersey.

"Paris-Nice is one of the biggest stage races we have and it's amazing to win a stage here," Cort said at the finish.

"It was not the official plan [to go in the break] but I went and I was feeling good in the first kilometres so I thought why not go in the break. I went in and it was of course the goal once you're in to get the final. It's both good and bad to be there with strong guys. It's not easy to win but it makes your chances better to make it to the end. It's amazing. It's my first victory of the season but for sure the season is going very well for the team."

Although the peloton failed to catch the leaders on the final set of climbs, they reduced what had been a gap of over six minutes to 48 seconds by the time they reached the finish. The result moved Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) into the yellow jersey, with Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) jumping to second overall, and Philippe Gilbert occurring third.

However, the bunch will see the end result of stage 4 as a missed opportunity and rue giving a group of this size and quality so much room to manoueve on a course suited to the likes of De Gendt, Cort and CCC Team's Alessandro De Marchi, who would eventually finish fourth.

The 13-strong break formed inside the opening kilometres, with De Gendt joined by Christoph Pfingsten (Bora-Hansgrohe), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ), Mathias Le Turnier (Cofidis), Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team), Kevin Reza (Vital Concept), Cort (Astana), Damien Gaudin (Direct Energie), Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic), Eduard Grosu (Delko-Marseille-Provence) and Evaldas Siskevicus (Delko-Marseille-Provence).

They established a lead of more than six minutes, with the stage taking on the first set of genuine climbs to feature in this year's race.

Bahrain-Merida and Mitchelton-Scott began to put pressure on the escape with 82km remaining, and when the gap dropped to just over four minutes it looked as though the bunch would decide the outcome of the stage. Then, when Deceuninck-QuickStep, the chances of a break succeeding looked all but over.

By the time the break reached the foot of the category 2 Côte de Trèves, their advantage was down to shade over three minutes, with De Gendt tapping out a consistent pace. The Belgian lead the break over the Côte de Condrieu with a number of the early move put into difficulty. However, the bunch had shaved just 30 seconds the group's advantage by that point, with Cort forced to chase back after briefly slipping back under the pressure from De Gendt's pace setting.

With just over 33km to go the Belgian had ridden all but six riders off his wheel, with Bernard, Ciccone De Marchi (CCC), Gesbert, Cort, and Le Turnier holding firm.

A crash in the bunch disrupted the chase, with Mikel Nieve caught out for the second day in a row as Mitchelton-Scott looked to set up European champion Matteo Trentin.

On the penultimate climb of the Côte de Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, it was De Gendt who once more dictated the tempo. In response, Mitchelton posted Simon Yates to the front, and the climber immediately had an impact with the leaders brought to within two minutes. But that's where the gap stayed. Even when the leaders soared up the final climb of the Côte de Chavanay with just over 10km remaining, the chase could only muster another 40 seconds, partly due to a long turn from Bernard, who was burying himself for his teammate in the break.

A split came on the climb when De Gendt, De Marchi, Cort and Ciccone pushed clear as several teams put in last-ditch efforts to bring themselves back into contention. However, with the finish within touching distance, Cort moved to the front for what appeared like a typical turn. When he looked around he could see the fatigue on the faces of his rivals, and rather than wait to unleash his sprint he accelerated away. De Gendt attempted to give chase, but the Astana rider was simply too strong.

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