Geraint Thomas proved that he is probably the strongest rider in Paris-Nice when he did most of the work to keep the chasers at bay in today's fourth stage of the race. Having now taken the yellow jersey, he admits to having felt at ease all week but expects to lose the jersey - albeit only temporarily - to John Degenkolb tomorrow.

Geraint Thomas prduced an attacking display in the closing kilometres of stage four to move into the race lead at Paris-Nice. The Welshman showed he had the legs to compete on the final Cote du Mont Brouilly climb and attacked with Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp) over the summit.

The pair combined on a tense run-in to edge out an elite group of chasing riders on the line in Belleville. Thomas was committed as he drove for the finish, and despite Slagter jutting ahead to take the stage win, the Team Sky rider was able to move into a three-second lead at the top of the standings.

Overnight yellow jersey-holder John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) showed form to make it over an undulating finale to remain in the hunt behind just Thomas, while the day’s winner Slagter sits a further second back overall.

Team Sky rode as a unit once again, making sure Thomas was well-positioned ahead of the key final ascent, flanked by team-mates Edvald Boasson Hagen and Vasil Kiryienka. With Thomas up the road, David Lopez was able to shut down a dangerous move from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) as the chasing pack tried but failed to shut down the advantage.

“It’s a massive race," Thomas told TeamSky.com. "Behind the Grand Tours it’s one of the biggest stage races you can do. So it’s great to wear the jersey, especially after the work the boys have done for me in the last few days. They were really good and I was happy I could repay them and get up there to take the jersey. It’s a great feeling."

A slender advantage at the top of the standings is testament to Thomas riding proactively during the first half of the race.

Despite the tense and hard racing Thomas admitted: "I was pretty relaxed on the first few stages and felt like I could move about the bunch nicely and be in a good position. I was on the right side of the splits and those seconds will definitely come in handy I think over the next few days.

"It would have been nice to have won the stage as well, but when I saw the guys coming with a kilometre to go, I didn’t want to throw away that effort we’d just made.

"I rode hard and got jumped, but like I say, it’s just great to be wearing the jersey.

"I felt decent on the climb and then afterwards I felt like I had a bit of gas left in the tank. It’s all still to race for and it’s going to be tough with four solid days to come. There’s still a lot of good bike riders within a few seconds so it will definitely be interesting racing!”

Thomas was only told that he was going to lead the team on Friday when Richie Porte was sent to Tirreno-Adriatico as a replacement for Chris Froome.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "I only learnt Friday before the race I was going to lead the team. Paris-Nice is one of the biggest stage race in the world behind the Tour de France and the Giro. To hold the yellow jersey is great and I'm very happy. I obviously received great support from the team. It's a different pressure because you don't want to let them down. I knew anyway that if I had been helping Richie I would have played a role here anyway. But the fact that he went to Tirreno was a great opportunity for me.

"I just want to enjoy that day in yellow because John(Degenkolb) will probably take it back tomorrow with the bonus sprints. In the finale I just went, I didn't ask myself any questions. You always want to win a stage and I probably should have stayed in Slagter's wheel but I had done most of the work in the finale and this jersey is a great consolation.

"It's true Sky is a great team with many talents like Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Richie Porte and others like Edvald Boasson-Hagen or Ian Stannard. I guess we just push each other."

You can read a preview of stage 5 here and follow our live coverage at 14.25 CET on CyclingQuotes.com/live.