The fourth stage in Paris – Nice is the first hilly stage on this year’s route. Schleck, Gesink and Sinkewitz, as well as many others will be looking for the stage win and taking Coppel’s yellow jersey if the Frenchman won’t be strong enough on the final climb
On the first climb of the day a breakaway wasn’t made yet and it was Tom Criel from Starbucks who was first at the top
On the next climb, he was joined by Fuglsang, but the Dane wasn’t interested in the KoM points and it was again Criel who took most of them
On the downhill 5 more riders joined the group, which meant a breakaway of the day with 7 riders: Criel, Fuglsang, Kern, Pauriol, Mourey, Van der Pluijm and Serrano
Serrano won the first intermediate sprint in front of Pauriol and Criel
At the top of the climb that followed the sprint, Pauriol was the only one interested in the KoM points so he was the only one that attacked and he was first in front of Fuglsang and Serrano
On the fourth climb of the day we had the same story, with Pauriol attacking and taking the KoM points in front of Fuglsang and Serrano
We had the same top 3 on the fifth climb of the day as well, but Pauriol was still one point away from taking the polka dot jersey from Txurruka, while with some of the escapes being already caught, Fuglsang won the last intermediate sprint
10 kilometers before the last summit of the day, Frank Schleck made his move, but after Gesink, Pluchkin and Coppel’s punctures from the previous days it was now his time to do the same, while attacking and trying to get away from the pack. He was brought back in the pack and even dropped off from an while before some of his team – mates helped him rejoin the pack
Pretty much all the big names present in this race followed Schleck on his attack and took the lead of the race after his puncture. Pluchkin and Popovych proved to be the strongest and started the final climb with a small advantage over the others
Circa 30 seconds back we had the pack led by Jack Wolfskin, with Gesink, who hasn’t made his move yet, and Schleck who was recovering from the shock of his puncture
1.5 kilometers before the top of the climb, Pluchkin and Popovych were still leading the race, but the chasers were very close behind them, with Gesink and Schleck also coming strong from the pack
Sinkewitz was first at the summit, followed by Popovych and Sella, with 14 other riders also being present in the leading group: Walker, Joaquin Rodriguez, Gomez Marchante, Pluchkin, Gesink, Marzano, Brajokovic, Pellizotti, Weening, Efimkin, Naibo, Soler, Caruso and Serrano
45 seconds behind them, Klemme was leading the chasing group, made by 16 riders, including Frank Schleck, Mauricio Ardila, Henao Montoyo and Tejay Van Garderen
There were no important moves in front on the downhill and it all came down to a sprint, with Sella, Popovych and Caruso looking a little bit stronger than the others
Inside the last kilometer, Popovych seemed to have secured the third place, which could bring him the yellow jersey, with the 2 Italians fighting for the stage win
And it looks like we have quite a surprise winner today, Caruso winning the stage in front of Sella and Popovych, who with 8 bonification seconds is now in front of Brajkovic and Gesink in the GC
Klemme led Schleck’s group 53 seconds behind the leading group, but 5 riders, including Van Garderen and Ardila, lost the contact with the group on the downhill and finished 1 minute and 35 seconds behind Caruso
Auber tried to limit the damages but 2 and a half minutes lost, Coppel is now out of the top 30 in the general classification, with Popovych being the new leader of the race
