Tinkoff-Saxo had four riders including GC captain Robert Kiserlovski in the peloton after a hectic stage finale with heaps of attacks within the final 15km. Climber Jesper Hansen, however, lost 9’27” after a crash on the final categorized climb with 13km to go. The young Dane fortunately escaped unharmed.
 
Following the conclusion of stage 4 in Critérium du Dauphiné, Tinkoff-Saxo’s sports director Patxi Vila tells that the race took a hectic turn of events on the final run-in towards Sisteron.
 
“It was a long stage and the breakaway went early on the day with two guys that ramped up a total of eight minutes thereabout. They were very good at the end, where they almost made it to the finish. Our strategy was to stay in the bunch and wait for the finale. We knew that we faced two short climbs and we wanted to try something in the sprint with Jay McCarthy, as it came just after a hard finale. It was a good opportunity but it was very hectic and he didn’t catch the right wheel and went into the sprint in a difficult position”, says Patxi Vila about the stage, where Jay McCarthy finished 19th.

Stage 4 of Dauphiné ran from Anneyron to Sisteron along a lumpy 228km parcours and was won by Nacer Bouhanni (COF), who took the stage win in the final sprint. However, Tinkoff-Saxo’s young climber Jesper Hansen, who entered the race fresh off the win in Tour of Norway, lost 9’27” after a crash on the final categorized climb.
 
“Jesper crashed on the final climb. Petrov and Beltran waited for him but he lost some time, as he couldn’t make contact to the peloton again in time, as they were going full speed at the front in the finale. Fortunately he didn’t hurt himself too much and will continue”, explains Patxi Vila before stage 5 to Pra Loup, where the race enters the mountains.
 
“For sure the coming days will be hard stages and tomorrow is no exception. They suit the characteristics of our team better, however we are not the favorites. It will be a different race tomorrow with a lot of climbing on the program. We’ll see how the guys are, when we hit the mountains and take it day by day from there. The quality of the bunch is high here in Dauphiné with some of the big stage race names present. I don’t think that they will go all out tomorrow but we will definitely see some interesting movements”, finishes Patxi Vila.