Crit. du Dauphiné (St. 4)

Notable performance by Kiryienka, Plaza and Amador –both three within the best 20- take them into the fore at the long, feared, 53-kilometer ITT preceeding the hard Alpine trio that will decide the Dauphiné

Vasil Kiryienka, Andrey Amador and Rubén Plaza brought their best versions to the spotlight during the fourth stage of the 64th Critérium du Dauphiné, an endless, 53-kilometer ITT from Villié-Morgon to Bourg-en-Bresse with a rolling, windy parcours. The three Movistar Team riders jumped into the day’s top 20 as big gaps by sidewind did not affect the Blues so stongly, all of them within two minutes and a half behind the leader and day’s winner Bradley Wiggins (SKY), but just 1.30 back on the third spot by Michael Rogers (SKY), preceeded by Tony Martin (OPQ).

Amador started strong (he was 7th through the 1st intermediate point at the 18th kilometer), but lost force considerably, in contrary to Kiryienka and Plaza, who always went regular to claim good places and stay in 15th and 19th overall, behind the Costa Rican who keeps the 14th place in a GC that will undergo big changes in the three Alpine stages. The first battle will be played tomorrow on stage five: 186 kilometers from Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans to Rumilly with a last climb 40k from the finish, but including Le Grand Colombier (HC) just 20k earlier, with its 17.4 kilometers on a 7.2% average gradient.