Simmons victorious as breakaway strikes again on Dauphiné stage 4

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) claimed victory from the breakaway on stage 4 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné, in Montrond-les-Bains.

A strong twelve-rider breakaway formed after around 60km of racing, and the group maintained an advantage of under two minutes on the remaining climbs before the road descended to the flat run-in to the finish, where a game of cat and mouse ensued. 

The chase came down to the wire, but ultimately the strength of the breakaway proved to be too much, and the ten remaining riders from the twelve-man escape would contest a sprint finish for victory in Montrond-les-Bains. 

Pablo Castrillo’s (Movistar) efforts ensured the break wasn’t caught under the flamme rouge, and in the end, Simmons proved to be the quickest ahead of Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) finished safely in the peloton, meaning that the Frenchman retains the yellow jersey heading into stage 5, which looks on paper most likely to end in a bunch sprint. 

Stage 4 started with the GC more defined following the team time trial on Tuesday. The route offered plenty of climbing within the first 120km before the road flattened towards a fast finale into Montrond-les-Bains.

There was a crash in the neutral zone involving Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), delaying the flag drop, and shortly after the racing began, there was another incident involving Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step) and Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies). 

There were splits in the peloton during the breakaway attempts, with a large group forming around the first climb, the Col de la Croix de l’Arbre.

However, it wasn't until beyond 60km of racing and the second categorised climb of the stage, the Côte du Temple, that the breakaway finally began to form. 

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) formed the initial move, before nine more riders bridged across to make the day’s escape. 

The nine riders included Sam Watson (Netcompany-Ineos), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Pablo Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar), Lars Crap (Lotto-Intermarché), Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies), Jan Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), George Bennett and Marco Frigo (NSN).

The breakaway’s advantage stabilised around the 1:30 mark as the race crested the final categorised climb, the Côde de Roche-en-Forez with 57km remaining. 

The British Champion Watson suffered a crash from the breakaway with 39km to go while descending. Watson was in visible discomfort but was able to get back to his feet and remount. Bennett also dropped back to the peloton on the descent, leaving ten riders out front with 30km remaining with just under a minute advantage.

Despite Visma's chase in the closing kilometres, the breakaway were able to narrowly hold off the chasers, with Simmons timing his effort to perfection.