On the eve of the beginning of the great battles for the GC, Samuel Dumoulin was again the mix for Ag2r as he finished 7th in stage 4 of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

"After the second place (in Monday's stage), we expected a little bit better than seventh place," sports director Julien Jurdie said. "With a lumpy finale and there could have been opportunities. Still, there is no regret. We are mainly here for the GC.

"Tomorrow another race starts. We have avoided the small traps, crashes, mechanical problems and splits. On the eve of the stage of Pra-Loup, I hope that we will have an excellent and dynamic race and we are ready to go for the stage win and the overall podium. This is a stage that will also feature in the next Tour de France. It's always a good benchmark before July. Now we focus on the Dauphine, but it is interesting to discover this stage for both Jean-Christophe [Peraud] and Romain [Bardet]."