Romain Hardy takes stage four of the Tour de l'Avenir
In the 183km stage four of the Tour de l’Avenir, from Ambert to Vals-les-Bains, Romain Hardy took the stage win after a three-man break, while Yannick Eijssen remains in the overall lead.
"This morning, we had planned to let the breakaway go and control the race according to the riders who made the break,” said Eijssen.
The 22-year-old stage winner has been riding a strong season with Team France A, with many top-five finishes in French races, including two fourth-place stage finishes in the Tour de l’Ain and a top-20 overall. The breakaway formed early in the stage, starting with six riders but laving only three at 40km to the finish line. Hardy was followed by Romain Bardet and David Rosch in the same time, two minutes ahead of the peloton.
Bardet, the runner up, moved from 17th overall to second, 17 seconds behind Eijssen and within reach to threaten the leader’s jersey, while David Rosch moved into fourth, 45 seconds behind. Eijssen had a difficult stage, finishing outside the top-10, but believes he can win the Tour.
“I was pretty confident, but we did not think the stage would be too hard,” said Eijssen. “In addition, several of my teammates fell, and I found myself a little isolated. At the end, we did not even know the time difference with the break. When we heard that it was three minutes, we accelerated to defend my jersey. I will fight to the end to keep it.”
The 21-year-old Belgian was the first to the summit finish in stage three, which allowed him to take the leader’s jersey from Jarlinson Pantano Gomez, who now stands in third place in the same time as Bardet. Alex Dowsett, who wore the leader’s jersey after stage well, fell well behind in the difficult stage and is now out of the running for a podium finish.
The 153km stage five includes a decisive third category climb less than 15km from the finish line. The penultimate stage six will be a mountainous beast, with six categorized climbs, two at category-one, and a 14km ascent leading to a summit finish. The Tour ends with a 13.5km uphill stage, a repeat of the finish of stage six.
“Above all, I will be strong on the stage to Risoul,” said Eijssen. “It is a difficult climb, but it may suit me…if I have good legs."
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