For the 24-year-old, it is the biggest success of his career, as it is his first victory as a professional. Although Bjerg was U23 world time trial champion three times in a row (2017 to 2019), he had not yet won a stage in the elite category. Bjerg also takes the overall leader's yellow jersey. The previous leader, Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), did not finish in the top 20 and had to relinquish the jersey.
The best German was Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) in 22nd place, 1:53 minutes behind Bjerg. His team captain Jai Hindley finished 13th (+1:08) and has thus climbed to 10th place in the overall standings.
The top 10 of stage 4
- Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) 37:28
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0:12
- Remi Cavagna (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:27
- Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:34
- Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen Team) +0:41
- Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) +0:44
- Rune Herregodts (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) +0:54
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +0:57
- Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) +1:02
- Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:05
The current overall standings
- Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) 12:59:19
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0:12
- Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:34
- Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen Team) +0:41
- Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) +0:44
- Rune Herregodts (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) +0:50
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +0:57
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:00
- Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:07
- Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:08
"It's my first professional victory," said Bjerg, on the verge of tears in the winner's interview. "I'm relieved that it finally worked out. I've worked so hard for this. I've had so many chances to do it, but I've always fallen short of my expectations. Today I actually thought the course was too tough for me. But my team boss said you have nothing to lose, give it your all."
Vingegaard, who had to settle for second place, paid tribute to his compatriot. "It was impressive what Mikkel showed. I had actually hoped to win and take yellow. Maybe I went about it a little too quickly."
In addition to the yellow jersey, Bjerg also won the white jersey for the best young pro. Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) will wear it as a substitute. The green jersey continues to belong to Laporte, while Donovan Grondin (Arkea-Samsic) is still in the mountains jersey.
How the 4th stage of the Criterium du Dauphine 2023 went
Without Hugo Hofstetter (Arkea-Samsic) started the time trial of the Dauphine. While the Frenchman was unable to start due to health reasons, Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) and Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R-Citroën Team) gave up the race after crashing.
The first on the ramp was Hofstetter's team-mate Donovan Grondin, the holder of the mountain jersey. And he took on a course that certainly had its undulations. After a climb at the start and a long downhill middle section afterwards, the finale was uphill again - so much so that some riders even had to leave their time trial position and get out of the saddle.
Grondin's first time was short-lived and was cancelled out by Ryan Mullen's 39:23 (Bora-Hansgrohe) replaced him. He was initially undercut by former European time trial champion Jonathan Casttroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) in 38:33 minutes. It took a while until Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) was a little faster. But the Portuguese rider didn't have the opportunity to make himself comfortable in the hot seat, as the next rider to cross the finish line was Remi Cavagna (Soudal - Quick Step), whose 37:55 minutes was the best time for a long time.
It was not until almost exactly an hour later that the Frenchman was replaced by Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates), who was almost another 30 seconds faster (37:28 min). The Dane's time was a real challenge for everyone else, including his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who was significantly faster than all the other starters at the first split time. At the second intermediate time, Bjerg was already in front - albeit at the same time as Cavagna and only one second faster than the current Tour de France winner.
