Everybody will now move their attention to the first mountain test.
Just two rather small climbs were on the course of the Tour de l’Avenir stage four, which made the sprinters confident they could fight for another victory, but in the end it was a solo win after a nervous finale, which saw one rider gap the rest of the peloton just as they caught the day-long breakaway with 400 meters to go.
The remaining Soudal Quick-Step Devo riders in the race - Henrique Bravo, Said Cisneros, Jasper Schoofs, and Viktor Soenens - all concluded safely in the bunch this 150.8km stage to Semur-en-Auxois, and Soenens even moved up a place in the general classification, inching closer to the top ten.
Monday brings the first real test of this edition, a stage that could and should change the overall ranking. The only individual time trial of the race will be a mountain one from Les Carroz to Flaine, and the Col de Pierre Carrée, averaging 6.5% over 11.4 kilometers, is sure to create some significant gaps and bring back in contention some of the riders who lost time in the first couple of days.
Photo credit: ©Antonio Baixauli / Getty Images
