Critérium du Dauphiné stage 4: Filippo Ganna fends off Wout van Aert as Belgian consolidates GC lead

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) showed his rainbow stripes in style with victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné time trial.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) came to within two seconds of topping the Italian ace’s time with a ride to second place that consolidates his lead in the GC in what was the first true test of the classification contenders in this Dauphiné.

Ethan Hayter rounded out the podium and took the white jersey in what was a stellar stage for Ineos Grenadiers.

Van Aert takes a huge 53-second GC lead over Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and puts Jumbo Visma in pole position for the overall with Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard in third and fourth respectively in the standings.

“It’s a time trial, it’s always honest. Only two seconds, it’s not a lot but it’s a difference. I got beaten by the world champion – I like to win but I have to accept it,” Van Aert said.

“I’m really pleased with how the Dauphiné’s going, it’s been a really good race for me – I have this nice jersey and will try to enjoy it the next couple of days.”

🤝 Très belle lutte à distance entre deux des meilleurs rouleurs du monde !

🤝 A close fight between two of the best TT specialists in the world!#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/ARht9Q85zF

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 8, 2022

American classification prospect Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) saw his day hit disaster when a mechanical and botched bike change lost the 24-year-old more than two minutes in the chase for GC.

Ganna gets in the hotseat and doesn’t get out again

Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco) set the first time to beat over the flat 31.9km course with his mark of 36:25. However, the Aussie didn’t enjoy long in the leader’s chair as Ganna followed close behind, setting the fastest splits all through the course to stop the clock nearly one minute faster at 35:32.

🤩 Beauty and the beast!#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/pBijoIBJUJ

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 8, 2022

French rouleur extraordinaire Remi Cavagna (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) couldn’t get close to Ganna, and it wasn’t until Ineos Grenadiers’ hot prospect Hayter came to the line some time later with his 36:49 that the Italian’s lead looked in any danger.

Vingegaard was one of the first top GC contenders to come to the finish in La Bâtie d’Urfé and showed his Tour de France credentials with a ride that would leave him seventh on the day and vault him up the classification.

Vingegaard’s teammate Roglič’s ride came with high expectations. The Olympic champ was a shade behind Ganna at the first time-check but slowed through the back-half of the course to finish just outside the podium with a time of 36.14.

Ineos Grenadiers enjoyed a stellar stage with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Michal Kwiatkowski joining Ganna and Hayter in the top-15

Van Aert was last down the ramp but fastest out the gate. The Belgian baller topped Ganna’s time at the first split by a huge 11 seconds but leaked time to his Italian rival as the race rumbled on.

⏱ 🇧🇪@WoutvanAert affole les compteurs ! Il est en tête après le 1er intermédiaire ! 💛

⏱ 🇧🇪@WoutvanAert is flying! he’s the fastest man after the 1st intermediate ! 💛#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/p76cNHxiYR

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 8, 2022

Spots of rain complicated the final kilometers of Van Aert’s race but couldn’t distract the Belgian from flying into second on the stage and consolidating his six-second overnight lead on the GC.

David Gaudu started the day just six seconds back on Van Aert and rode on the limit to minimize his losses on the TT bike as best as possible – but it was far from enough from preventing the Frenchman from ceding two minutes and his hopes of final victory.

McNulty blown out of contention by jammed chain

McNulty saw his GC challenge torpedoed in the early kilometers of his ride.

McNulty hemorrhaged time when a jammed chain saw a staffer from the follow car struggle to realign the tangled drivetrain as the young American watched on in visible frustration. The under-pressure mechanic eventually ran to get a new bike from the car before pushing McNulty on his way, but the 24-year-old’s race was already well over by that point.

🛠 Problème mécanique pour 🇺🇸@BrandonMcNult, qui a perdu beaucoup de temps avant de changer de vélo.

🛠 🇺🇸@BrandonMcNult suffered a mechanical problem and lost nearly a minute trying to fix it and had to change his bike. #Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/ZJ3dc65fCs

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 8, 2022

Up next: Medium mountains warm the engine for high peaks to come

Stages 5 and 6 in the coming days both put the peloton through a stack of lower category climbs before flat finishes that could see all number of scenarios, from breakaway wins to reduced bunch sprints.

Summit finishes and HC climbs on stages 7 and 8 this weekend will prove the ultimate test in deciding who’s crowned champion atop Plateau de Salaison on Sunday.