Despite a crash about 300 metres before the finish, Christophe Laporte successfully defended the yellow jersey of the leader in the Paris-Nice long-distance cycling race.
The Frenchman from Team Jumbo-Visma crashed in the bunch sprint on stage 3, but then finished some way behind Danish former world champion Mads Pedersen. On flat stages, however, crash victims in the last three kilometres are given the winner's time, meaning that Laporte leads the race by one second ahead of his Belgian team-mate Wout van Aert.
The 190.8 kilometres from Vierzon to Dun-le-Palestel were characterised by many attacks in the hilly final phase. In the end, however, the sprinter teams controlled the field and Pedersen won in a long sprint ahead of Frenchman Bryan Coquard and van Aert. The German team Bora-hansgrohe finished eighth through Dutchman Danny van Poppel.
The time trial specialists are in demand on Wednesday. The 13.4 kilometre course leads from Domérat to Montlucon. From Thursday onwards, the terrain becomes significantly more demanding. The race ends on Sunday with a stage around Nice.
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