00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 On to stage four of the Dauphiné,
00:16 and it's a big one for the overall contenders,
00:19 the individual time trial.
00:21 31 kilometers of rolling terrain
00:23 between Cours and Belle-Mont-de-Lalois,
00:25 with almost 450 meters of climbing.
00:27 It's one that could suit the all-rounders
00:29 more than the pure TT specialists.
00:32 Christophe Laporte is expected to lose the overall lead,
00:57 but the double stage winner says
00:59 he won't just be giving away that yellow jersey.
01:01 Meanwhile, the man in white, Rune Hedegaard,
01:16 is hoping to be up there.
01:18 Before the Dauphiné, the TT was the day
01:20 I was most focused on.
01:23 So I really hope to do a good result.
01:26 Together with Cube, we really worked,
01:28 and I think top 10 is a realistic goal
01:32 if I have a good time trial
01:34 and I have not too much problems with the crash.
01:36 Some of the usual suspects set solid times
01:43 in the early part of the stage.
01:45 Jonathan Castroviejo, Luc Derbridge,
01:47 and Nelson Oliveira, all within a handful of seconds.
01:51 But they were comfortably beaten by a charging Remy Cavagna,
01:54 the TGV of Clermont-Ferrand,
01:56 powering his way into the hot seat.
01:59 He reaches the station, he's going into the hot seat.
02:04 Cavagna, 35 seconds faster.
02:08 It's still a long way to go, but I don't know if it will last.
02:14 I did my best today,
02:15 I think with the legs I had recently,
02:17 so I didn't believe it.
02:19 Yesterday I said I would do it calmly against the world
02:20 because I felt tired.
02:23 In the end, today it turned out well,
02:25 even if it's not crazy.
02:27 Cavagna blitzing the course at an average
02:30 of over 49 kilometers an hour,
02:32 and it was going to take something special
02:34 to dislodge the Frenchman.
02:35 Over to the GC favorites then.
02:40 They couldn't win the Dauphiné today,
02:42 but they could certainly lose it.
02:46 Enric Mas was one of the first big names to start,
02:49 having dropped time on stage one.
02:51 The Spaniard was already 30 seconds down
02:53 by the first checkpoint,
02:54 and he would go on to ship over two and a half minutes.
02:58 A better day for Dani Martínez,
03:04 the 2020 Dauphiné winner
03:05 and a three-time Colombian ITT champion.
03:08 He was neck and neck with Cavagna
03:10 in the early part of the stage.
03:11 David Godou made the most of the team time trial
03:15 at Paris Nice to come second overall,
03:17 but the individual TT isn't really his cup of tea.
03:20 He was quickly in the red and also dropped over two minutes.
03:24 Adam Yates and Jonas Vingegaard
03:35 were among the last favorites to hit the course.
03:37 And Yates looked to be on a good day,
03:40 only a second down on Cavagna at the first time split.
03:44 Vingegaard, meanwhile, living up to his billing
03:46 as the stage and the race favorite
03:48 by going fully 12 seconds faster than the Frenchman
03:51 over the first 10K.
03:52 Martínez ran out of steam in the final sector,
03:55 coming in 40 seconds down on Cavagna,
03:58 but that was still enough for 11th place on the stage.
04:01 The last three down the ramp were Richard Carapaz,
04:06 Julian Alaphilippe, and Laporte in the yellow and blue.
04:10 Things finally poised for the GC battle
04:12 and for the stage victory with Cavagna still on top.
04:15 But he was eventually overhauled
04:18 by a white-hot Mikael Bjerg.
04:20 Despite being 20 seconds down at the first split,
04:23 the down absolutely hammered his way
04:24 through the rest of the stage
04:25 as he went hunting for a first career victory.
04:28 Mikael Bjerg, UAE Team Emirates.
04:33 Well, that's a complete smashing of the time of Cavagna.
04:37 27 seconds.
04:39 (CAPTAIN CARAPAZ, UAE TEAM EMIRATES)
04:42 Back to the fight for GC
04:46 and an impressive showing from Ben O'Connor,
04:48 who was fourth at the Tour de France two years ago.
04:51 The Aussie the best placed of the overall favorites
04:53 for the time being.
04:55 Carapaz, Alaphilippe, and Laporte were all losing time
04:59 while Wengergaard came up just short.
05:01 The Jumbo-Visma leader forced to settle for second place
05:04 as Laporte eventually rounded things out,
05:06 confirming that both the stage victory and the yellow jersey
05:10 would go to the unstoppable Bjerg.
05:12 At 24 years of age,
05:16 Mikael Bjerg has finally landed his first professional victory.
05:19 A model teammate and domestique at UAE,
05:21 notably for Taddy Pagaccia,
05:23 the Dane has long been tipped for time trial success,
05:26 having won the World Under-23 crown on three occasions.
05:30 After a couple of near misses,
05:31 he was understandably emotional at getting it done.
05:35 I worked so hard for this first pro victory
05:39 and I'm just so relieved that I finally got it now.
05:43 Bjerg winning by 12 seconds from his compatriot Wengergaard,
05:49 followed by Cavagna, Fred Wright and O'Connor.
05:51 Herigot's got the top ten finish he was targeting
05:54 just ahead of Yates, with everybody else at least one minute back.
06:02 Bjerg also takes his first leaders jersey at a World Tour race,
06:05 having started the day level on time with Wengergaard,
06:08 the defending Tour champion 12 seconds back,
06:10 and he's already some way clear of his nearest GC rivals,
06:13 O'Connor, Yates, Martinez and Hindley.
06:16 Laporte finished the day 21st, a minute and 50 down.
06:19 That was still better than Godou, Bernal, Carapaz,
06:22 Ciccone, Landa and Mass,
06:23 and he remains on top in the points classification.
06:26 No mountains points on offer today,
06:30 so Donovan Grandin is still in the polka dot jersey.
06:33 There are some points available on Thursday and Friday,
06:35 but the proper climbing action kicks off on the weekend.
06:38 Bjerg also takes over from Herigot as the best young rider,
06:44 even if the Belgian did a solid job today.
06:46 Wright goes up to second place with 50 seconds,
06:49 now separating that trio in the white jersey standings.
06:53 Thursday is another one for the punchers.
06:55 Olympi outing between Comarache-Sorceaux and Saint-Anne-les-Bains.
06:59 A nasty climb, just 15km from the finish line,
07:01 3.6km at a punishing 8.8%,
07:05 meaning the GC riders are likely to get involved as well.
07:08 Join us again tomorrow, and thanks for watching.
07:11 (electronic music)
07:14 (whooshing)
07:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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