Key moments

17:12 - Top 5

1. John Degenkolb

2. Edvald Boasson Hagen

3. Juan José Haedo

4. Tomas Vaitkus

5. William Bonnet

17:08 - The winner of the sprint is: Degenkolb

John Degenkolb wins the bunch sprint at quai Lamartine in Mâcon. Boasson Hagen is second, JJ Haedo is third.

17:06 - Roy and Malori caught

Roy and Malori get caught with 2.2km to go.

17:00 - Roy and Malori soon to be caught

Roy and Malori are about to get caught with 5km to go. The bunch tries to catch them at the latest possible in order to avoid an action like Ekimov’s twenty years ago...

16:54 - Duque has a flat tyre

Virtual leader of the king of the mountain price Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) has a flat tyre with ten kilometres to go.

16:53 - The gap goes down

New time gap with 14km to go: 1.15.

16:49 - Zabriskie in the chase

The Garmin-Cervélo team is the most active at the head of the peloton, with David Zabriskie leading the charge. This morning the American champion for time trial amazed race speaker Daniel Mangeas as he showed up topless for signing in, only wearing trousers before putting his cycling kit on later.

16:44 - Remember Le Guilloux

Former Breton cyclist Maurice Le Guilloux remains the author of the longest winning breakaway in the 64 year long history of the Criterium du Dauphiné. In 1978, he won solo stage 1 from Thonon to Mâcon. Le Guilloux is back to Mâcon today as a public relation for race sponsor LCL bank.

16:37 - 2.15 with 22km to go

Roy and Malori, away since km 6, have 2.15 left with 22km to go.

16:30 - Remember Ekimov

Cycling connoisseurs remember a great piece of cycling in Mâcon: in 1991, Russian pursuiter Viatcheslav Ekimov attacked under the flamme rouge of the last kilometre and resist victoriously to the return of the peloton led by the sprinters. The finish was in the same street as today’s but about two kilometres away from the point of the quai Lamartine where the line is drawn today at the end of a 1.9km straight road following a U-turn in the form of a hot dog.

16:14 - Who are the sprinters?

The experts seem to unanimously predict a bunch sprint finish in Mâcon on the shores of the Saône river between the town hall and the statue of French poet Lamartine who was born in Mâcon on 21 october 1790. The most famous sprinters in competition are Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo), John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-SunGard), Grega Bole (Lampre-ISD), Sébastien Chavanel (Europcar), Sébastien Hinault (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and William Bonnet (FDJ).

16:05 - Still 4 minutes

At St-Nizier-le-Désert, km 123, the gap between Roy/Malori and the bunch remains four minutes. Jan Ghyselinck (HTC-Highroad) and Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Cervélo) lead the bunch ahead of four riders of Team Sky who escort the yellow-blue jersey Bradley Wiggins.

16:04 - 36.8km in the third hour

Roy and Malori have covered 36.8 kilometres in the third hour of racing. It makes an average speed of 37.7km/h.

16:02 - Garmin-Cervélo moves ahead

At km 114, two riders from Garmin-Cervélo, Johan Van Summeren and Daniel Lloyd, move to the front of the bunch to speed up the bunch in a combined effort with teams HTC-Highroad and Sky.

16:00 - Duque virtually in polka dot jersey

With the points he accumulated, Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) will take the polka dot jersey, providing that he crosses the finishing line in Mâcon within the time cut.

15:46 - Result of KOM 3

Result of the third king of the mountain price of the day, côte de Châtillon-la-Palud, km 109.5:

1. Adriano Malori, 3 points

2. Jérémy Roy, 2 points

At 3.45:

3. Leonardo Duque, 1 point

15:40 - Brad McGee says JJ Haedo is ready for sprinting

Contacted by letour.fr, Saxo Bank-SunGard’s directeur sportif Bradley McGee explained the ambitions of his sprinter Juan José Haedo who won stage 2 to Bourg-Saint-Andéol at the Dauphiné last year. “JJ is a little bit nervous and it’s a good sign”, said the Australian. “He’s a mature sprinter. He’s got some doubts, he needs a win for his confidence after winning a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico and recently finishing second of a stage at the Tour of California. He has come to the Dauphiné specifically for today’s stage. That’s the one he wants to win. He’s in good form but he’s very professional, so he’s in good form all year. We don’t exactly have a train for him. His main lead out man will be his brother, Lucas Sebastian. We’ll play a little role in the chase later on, probably in the last 40 kilometres when there will be some changes of wind direction. We weren’t sure at the start this morning because of the first climb just at the beginning but the attitude of the bunch is that it’s going to be a bunch sprint today.”

15:37 - 3.50 at km 99

The gap between the escapees and the peloton remains steady after the feed zone: 3.50 at km 99.

15:32 - Selvaggi pulls out

Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil) also pulls out of the Dauphiné after completing the Giro where he was the author of a long lasting breakaway in stage 8 with his training companion from his region of Latium near Roma, Leonardo Giordani (Farnese Vini).

15:14 - Reda stops at the feed zone

Francesco Reda (Quick Step) quits the race at the feed zone. He is tired after riding the Tour of Italy. He is the only professional riding hailing from the southern region of Calabria.

15:10 - Marc Madiot says Jérémy Roy is motivated

Contacted by letour.fr, FDJ’s team manager Marc Madiot said: "Jérémy [Roy] was happy with his ride yesterday but not happy enough with his ranking at the time trial. He was hoping for a better place than 16th, that’s why he was very motivated to break away today again. He told his team-mates this morning in the bus that he would do it and they were very supportive."

15:09 - 3.35 at km 81

The advantage of Roy and Malori is 3.35 at km 81.

14:34 - Johnny Weltz says Farrar is up for it

Contacted by letour.fr, Garmin-Cervélo’s directeur sportif Johnny Weltz informed that Tyler Farrar feels good enough to try and win a bunch sprint today in Mâcon. "We’d better not chase too early behind the breakaway", the Dane said. "We’ll stay calm until the feed zone. Two riders away is an ideal situation for us. Team Sky does the job. Farrar isn’t the only sprinter in the bunch. Of course John Degenkolb is a big rival but he’s still in a phase of development and we’re not too sure of his qualities for sprinting on the flat. Edvald Boasson Hagen can be another contender." 

14:32 - Time gap: 4.25

Jérémoy Roy (FDJ) and Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) have an advantage of 4.25 at km 56.

14:28 - Lelangue says Evans has no pressure

Contacted by letour.fr, BMC’s directeur sportif John Lelangue predicted a bunch sprint for today. “The two breakaway riders have no chance to succeed”, he said. “The teams of sprinters like Tyler Farrar [Garmin-Cervélo] and John Degenkolb [HTC-Highroad] will not let this occasion go.” Lelangue added that Cadel Evans is very satisfied with where he stands now, in second place on GC 1.11 down on Bradley Wiggins. The Australian didn’t take all the risks in the time trial yesterday. He’s mostly focused on the Tour de France and rides the Dauphiné with no pressure, according to his directeur sportif.

14:26 - KOM 2 result

Result of the second king of the mountain price of the day, the côte de Peyzieux, km 54:

1. Adriano Malori, 3 points

2. Jérémy Roy, 2 points

At 4.10:

3. Leonardo Duque, 1 point

14:06 - Roy and Malori in the second climb

The advantage of Roy and Malori has decreased a little bit: 3.45, as they are in the second climb of the day, the côte de Peyzieux.

14:01 - 36.2km in the first hour

The two breakaway riders Jérémy Roy and Adriano Malori have covered 36.2 kilometres in the first hour of racing. It included the 2nd category col du Chat. They cruise around four minutes ahead of the bunch.

13:46 - Malori gears up for Italian championship ITT

Adriano Malori, 23, is no stranger to the Dauphiné, a race he already contested last year as a neo-pro. He finished 40th of the individual time trial from Monteux to Sorgues. His 12th place yesterday gives an interesting indication on his improvement as a pro cyclist. A former world champion for time trial in the U23 category (in 2008), Malori pursues his dream of becoming the Italian champion against the clock. The injury of five times national champion Marco Pinotti who is sidelined for the next three months at least boosts Malori’s possibility of getting the tri-colour jersey in Sicily. The young rider from Parma was already a bronze medallist last year behind Pinotti and Dario Cataldo. Today’s breakaway is probably part of Malori’s plan to gear up for the title he openly aims for.

13:35 - Mechanical problem for the yellow-blue jersey

At km 26, Bradley Wiggins stops on the road side because of a mechanical problem and calls his team car.

13:34 - 3.45 at km 18

New time gap: 3.45 at km 18.

13:27 - Duque wants the polka dot jersey

To pursue the tradition of the Colombians shining in the mountains of the Dauphiné, Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) aims at taking the polka dot jersey. He virtually leads the KOM classification with 18 points, after passing first at the top of the first three climbs of stage 1. Martin Ramirez was the first Colombian to win the Dauphiné in 1984.

13:19 - KOM 1 result

Result of the first king of the mountain price at the col du Chat, cat. 2, km 13.5:

1. Adriano Malori, 10 points

2. Jérémy Roy, 9 points

At 3.05:

3. Leonardo Duque, 8 points

4. Mickaël Buffaz, 7 points

5. Brice Feillu, 6 points

6. Mauro Finetto, 5

13:17 - In the col du Chat

Jérémy Roy and Adriano Malori are climbing the col du Chat.

13:11 - Sky in a mission

After only 10km of racing, Team Sky has taken the command of the bunch to regulate the speed behind Roy and Malori who have an advantage of 2.10.

13:10 - 1.10 advantage

Roy and Malori have 1.10 lead. They have both put a strong performance at yesterday’s time trial in Grenoble: Malori finished 12th and Roy 16th out of the 175 competitors.

13:09 - Beautiful view

The peloton enjoys a beautiful view on the shores of the lake du Bourget. Roy and Malori increase their lead to 35 seconds.

13:08 - Leader’s jersey wearers

   Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) is in yellow-blue, as he leads the general classification by 1.11 over Cadel Evans (BMC), 1.21 over Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) and 1.56 over previous race Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) after the 42.5km time trial in Grenoble yesterday.
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) wears the green jersey, as he stands in second position behind Bradley Wiggins in the points classification. John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad) aims at taking over. He’s fourth with 33 points, only seven down on Wiggins. Today’s stage to Mâcon might end up with a bunch gallop.
- Jurgen Van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) still leads the king of the mountains price since he arrived in first place at Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (stage 1), the only category 2 climb featured so far.
- Rui Costa (Movistar) is in white jersey for the first time. He’s the best young rider, standing in fifth place on GC, 13 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas (Sky) and 34 seconds ahead of Ben Hermans (RadioShack).
- Team Sky leads the team classification with an advantage of 4.49 over Ag2r-La Mondiale, 5.23 over RadioShack, 5.26 over HTC-Highroad and 7.24 over FDJ.

13:06 - Vinokourov caught in a crash

A crash in the bunch involves Alexandre Vinokourov at km 7. It’s without consequences for all the riders who went down.

13:05 - Malori joins Roy

Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) joins Jérémy Roy (FDJ) at the head of the race at km 5. They have 17 seconds lead at km 6.

13:03 - Roy is number 1 again

Jérémy Roy (FDJ) is the first man to attack after the start in La Motte-Servolex. This is the third time he does so after stage 1 and stage 2.

12:57 - Saddle sore for Denifl

Stefan Denifl warned his fans yesterday that he wouldn’t be starting today. He posted the reason on twitter: “Bad news! My sitting problems getting worst the last days so i will fly home tomorrow morning for a small surgery... Hope to be back soon!” The Leopard-Trek rider hopes to be able to contest the championship of Austria at the end of the month. One year ago, Denifl was a member of a long lasting breakaway on his way to Risoul at the Dauphiné.

12:56 - The race is on

The real start has been given at 12.55 to 174 riders. Since the prologue, only one rider has pulled out and that’s Stefan Denifl today.

12:55 - Three climbs today

Climbs of the day:
- Km 13.5: col du Chat, cat. 2 (6.2km at 6.7%)
- Km 54: côte de Peyzieu, cat. 4 (1.4km at 4.6%)
- Km 109.5: côte de Chatillon-la-Palud, cat. 4 (1.8km at 5%)

12:48 - Denifl won’t start

One non starter: Stefan Denifl (Leopard-Trek). 174 starters in La Motte-Servolex, where the Ag2r-La Mondiale team has its headquarters. 22°C on the start line. Cloudy conditions.

12:46 - Welcome to the live coverage of stage 4

It’s nice and sunny in Mâcon where stage 4 of the Dauphiné is scheduled to end today around 5pm. We’ll keep you updated with race facts, news and comments.

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