Stephen Cummings (BMC) confirmed the excellent condition that had seen him finish 2nd behind teammate Taylor Phinney (BMC) when he emerged as the strongest in the 18.2km hilly time trial in the Tour Mediteraneen. The Brit beat Austrian wonderboy Riccardo Zoidl (Trek) by 4 seconds while Sylvain Chavanel completed the podium with a 10-second time loss, meaning that Cummings takes a narrow lead into tomorrow's queen stage to the top of Mont Faron.

One week ago, Stephen Cummings proved that he is in fantastic condition right from the beginning of the season when he finished 2nd in the flat time trial in the Dubai Tour before going on to take the same spot in the final classification, having only been beaten by teammate Taylor Phinney. Today the roles were reversed in the 18.2km race against the clock that made up the 4th stage of the Tour Mediteraneen.

Compared to the Dubai course, the route in Southern France was a much hillier affair and contained two hard climbs and some rolling terrain. This suited Cummings perfectly, the Brit covering the distance in the fastest time while Phinney could only manage 12th this time.

Having stayed in contention in the first three stages, Cummings was well-placed on GC and so a late starter. He showed his intentions right from the start by posting the best intermediate time and kept the pace high all the way to the finish, stopping the clock at 24.27.

At that point, Austrian neo-pro Ricccardo Zoidl had proved that his exceptional 2013 results were no fluke as he held the fastest time. Cummings shaved 4 seconds off that mark and now faced a short wait to see if any of the 14 final riders could beat his time.

Etoile de Besseges winner Tobias Ludvigsson (Giant-Shimano) failed to do so, finishing a disappointing 6th and so all eyes were on Sylvain Chavanel and Luis Leon Sanchez (Caja Rural) to potentially destroy the party for the strong Brit. The former put in a strong performance to take 3rd but when the latter could only manage 14th, it was a closed deal for Cummings.

Unsurprisingly, triple stage winner and overall leader John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) finished far off the mark and so Cummings is the new leader of the race. The BMC captain holds that 4-second advantage over Zoidl but it can quickly be erased in tomorrow's final stage. Held over a rolling course, the 192.7km stage ends with the brutal climb up the feared Mont Faron that is set to produce another major shake-up of the GC.

A hilly course

Having already covered 63km at a very fast pace in the morning, the Tour Mediteraneen peloton was back on their bikes for the 18.2km time trial in on the roads around St. Remy de Provence. The route continued two tough climb in the first half while the final section was a downhill and flat run that suited the TT specialists.

The first rider down the ramp was Morgan Kneisky (Raleigh) but unsurprisingly, it was former U23 world champion Anton Vorobyev (Katusha) who set the first serious mark witg a time of 25.59. Christophe Kern (Europcar), Alexander Porsev (Katusha), and Franck Vermeulen (Roubaix) all had solid rides to make it onto the provisional podium but it wasn't until Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne) had finished his ride that Vorobyev was knocked out of the hot seat.

Best time for Pirazzi

The Bardiani duo of Donato de Ieso and Edoardo Zardini both made it into the provisional top 4 while Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty) and Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC) both took spots in the provisional top 10. However, the first real threat to Gerard's lead came from Lawrence Warbasse (BMC) who fell just 11 seconds shy of the lead.

Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani) again proved that he has improved massively as a time trialist when he set a time that was 17 seconds faster than Gerard's and he held off good rides by Davide Malacarne (Europcar), Flavien Dassonville (BigMat), Sebastien Delfosse (Wallonie) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne). Gert Joeaar (Cofidis) made it onto the provisional podium while Angelo Pagani (Bardiani), Francis De Greef (Wanty) and Julien Antomarchi (La Pomme Marseille) were not far behind either.

Fedrigo and Larsson get close

Pierrich Fedrigo (FDJ)  was a serious threat for Pirazzi but his time was 12 seconds off the Italian's mark. All eyes were now on specialist Gustav Larsson (IAM) but his time was only good enough for 2nd.

Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) made it into the provisional top 10 but got little attention as all focus was now on big favourite Phinney. The American lived up to expectation when he set a time that was 6 seconds faster than Pirazzi's.

Roy beats Phinney

Phinney got a short scare when Carlos Betancur (Ag2r) set the fastest split time but the Colombian could not keep up the pace in the final, flat section. Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) set an exceptional time to take a provisional 3rd while Georg Preidler (Giant-Shimano) was just a few seconds slower.

Yannick Eijssen (BMC) was the next rider to make it into the top  but it was Jeremy Roy (FDJ) who finally knocked Phinney out of the hot seat, shaving another 6 seconds off the best time. He was almost beaten a few moments later but Thomas Degand (Wanty) missed 2 seconds in the end.

Great ride by Sepulveda

Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne) was the next rider to take the lead when he set a time of 25.01 but he didn't get long time in the hot seat. Veteran Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) was the first rider to go below the 25-minute mark, stopping the clock in 24.42.

Less than a minute later, Zoidl crossed the line in a time that was 11 seconds faster than Peraud's and followed by his teammate Bob Jungels who set the 4th best time. Ben Hermans (BMC) set a good time of 25.10 to move into the top 5 but it was Cummings who lowered the mark even further a few minutes later.

Cummings could now only wait for Ludvigsson, Chavanel and Sanchez to finish their rides and as none of them managed to beat him, he could take the win and set himself up for an overall victory in the prestigious French race.