Chris Froome defended his leader's jersey in today's fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné but that wasn't according to plan. In fact, the Briton had planned to let another rider take over the top positioned in the overall standings but in the end the pace was so fast that he kept his coveted tunic.

Chris Froome moved another step closer to defending his Criterium du Dauphine title by emerging from the fourth stage unscathed after Yuri Trofimov had escaped to a fine solo victory.

Froome’s 12-second advantage over Alberto Contador at the top of the standings was never threatened during the 167.5km trek from Montelimar to Gap, and Team Sky once again controlled the pace to ensure he crossed the line alongside his main rivals.

With Trofimov over six minutes down in the general classification at the start of the day, Team Sky were under no pressure to chase him down when he attacked from a 13-man break on the Col de Manse, and the Katusha rider descended like a stone before wrapping up his win by 23 seconds.

Gustav Larsson (IAM) also emerged from that group to take second place on the stage, with Pim Ligthart (Lotto Belisol) rolling home two seconds later in third. Froome meanwhile, crossed the line two minutes and ten seconds back at the front of a significantly reduced peloton.

With a breakaway always likely to stick, the action got off to a fierce start as riders battled to make the move, but Team Sky monitored the situation carefully before allowing a select group to forge clear.

Maxime Bouet’s presence among the escapees meant they were kept on a relatively tight leash, with Vasil Kiryienka, Xabier Zandio and Danny Pate all taking long turns on the front to keep them at a manageable distance.

The gap stood at just over two minutes as the break began the Col de Manse, with David Lopez, Geraint Thomas, Richie Porte and Mikel Nieve tapping out a steady tempo over the final ascent before guiding Froome and the rest of the peloton home.

Immediately after the stage, Froome praised his team-mates on a job well done and admitted the race was proving great preparation for next month’s Tour de France.

“I’m really happy. I wouldn't say it was an easy stage but, once again, I have say thank you to my teammates for having made it a trouble free day. I was looked after from beginning to end again today, and even at the line I had three team-mates there with me. It was a really good day for us, and as a team building towards the Tour de France, that’s a really good sign.

“We were relaxed coming into the stage and it wouldn’t have been the end of the world if AG2R had taken the jersey from the break with Maxime Bouet in it, but in the end the race was so fast that we were able to keep it.

“We didn’t want to take any risks on that last descent and we always had the situation under control.”

Thursday’s stage is a far more lumpy affair, with six categorised climbs featuring on an undulating parcours, and while Froome is taking things one day at a time, he is prepared for any attacks which might come his way.

He continued: “I haven’t looked at tomorrow’s stage in too much detail just yet – I’ll study it properly tonight – but there’s a really steep climb towards the finish and that could provide a moment in the race where we can expect quite a few moves.

“We’re ready for that and, as always, our main objective will be to keep hold of the yellow jersey and limit any losses to the other GC riders.”