As it happened: Sprint teams fail to bring back breakaway after thrilling chase on Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage 4

“I think our whole team is going super well.”

I prepared super well thanks to the team and my coach. I came from the US straight here, and whenever I come from home, I ride at a really high level. Often times I struggle to execute that form, so it’s nice to have a little payback for that form.”

2026-06-10T15:28:44.038Z

EF Educaiton-EasyPost’s Alex Baudin continues to lead the race after his breakaway win on stage 1. With a likely sprint, or breakaway finish coming again tomorrow, it’s feasible he holds it until the first of three big mountain tests on Friday.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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There was a few minor changes on GC with Visma domestique Bruno Armiral dropping out of the peloton after some big pulls on the front. Him falling from eighth to 16th has pushed pre-race favourite Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) into the top 10.

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Visma-Lease a Bike may be left kicking themselves after Van Aert won the sprint behind the break for fourth. In any case, it’s a good sign that the Belgian’s form is heading in the right direction after three days of struggling at this race.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The winning moment for Simmons on stage 4. This was his first win in France and third at WorldTour level.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) wins stage 4 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with a fanatstic long sprint.

Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) went close but couldn’t get back to the US champion’s front wheel. Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) was third on the day from the break.

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Simmons goes to the line with Fisher-Black and the US champion celebrates.

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Everyone can thank Castrillo for saving the break as they sprint for the stage win. the peloton aren’t going to make it.

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500 metres to go and it’s eight seconds. They might still make it!

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The breakaway is going to pieces with the peloton breathing down their necks. Just nine seconds they lead by now.

Attack from the breakaway from Castrillo as the games begin. 70kph as the games begin under the flamme rouge.

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Visma-Lease a Bike are now on the front to try and do this last bit of chasing, which will be for Van Aert. It’s the strong legs of Edoardo Affini pulling.

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Now down to 13 seconds as the speeds are up to 62kph. This is quite the battle.

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Gap down to 16 seconds.

The break are doing well and holding off the push from Cofidis in the peloton. So many teams are interested in this, but it will be a late catch if they do get them.

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This straight road is brutal, especially with strong winds blowing, Visma continue to pace on the front.

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With just over 5km to go, the peloton is just 19 seconds back as the break continues to try and make it. Any big hesitations will certainly end their time in the lead.

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Simmons had attacked in the breakaway, perhaps getting the call in his radio that the peloton were coming, but he was caught.

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Gap down to 15 seconds as it looks like the break’s time in front is about to come to an end.

Almost all of these last 10km will be on that dead straight road I pointed out earlier.

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The gap from the peloton to the break has ticked down again approaching the final 10km, now at only 23 seconds. It looks like the sprinters will have their day.

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It’s full Cofidis at the front for now, with clear confidence in their man Coquard. Bahrain sit just behind them.

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Just 550 metres separates the 10 riders in front from the chasing peloton behind. Still, those in front cooperate well.

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Reminder that there is big potential for chaos in the finale of today’s stage, with this very straight 9km road leading the riders to the finish line. It will suit the big power guys with a tailwind possibly pushing very high speeds.

(Image credit: ASO)

Gap to the break now under 40 seconds. It’s coming back quickly now.

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The break are riding well together now, but the gap continues to tick down, now at 50 seconds with several teams chasing hard behind at close to 60kph.

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All of the GC names are sat looking comfortably in the peloton for now. But with a cross-tailwind blowing for the final run for home, it certainly won’t be an easy one with lots of nerves for those chasing yellow.

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Curiously, Bennett has dropped back to the break from the peloton, leaving teammate Frigo alone in front. If it was a tactical call to save his legs for another day, it was a late one.

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Back in the peloton, Tudor have also started to ride, with more teams getting interested in this finale.

For the ten breakway riders left in front: Simmons, Fisher-Black, Kron, Castrillo, García Pierna, Craps, Jegat, Vercher, Castellon and Frigo, their lead is now less than a minute from the peloton.

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The remaining riders in the breakaway are now off the descent. George Bennett has dropped back from the move though, holding his hand up and requiring assistance of some kind.

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Watson is thankfully on his feet but clearly in pain. The replay seems to show his front wheel wobbling as he tried to hold onto it before losing control. He took most of the impact on his hip but is remounting his bike now with a broken boa strap on his shoe.

It’s the British champion Sam Watson (Netcompany Ineos) who has come down. He’s sat up on the ground and it doesn’t look good. He came down heavily on his right side at high speed after appearing to lose control – unclear exactly what caused it.

Crash in the breakaway!

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Could today be Wout van Aert’s day? He hasn’t shown the form yet in this race, but you never know with one of the best riders of this generation.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Bahrain Victorious have now moved into that space Visma were occupying. Their fast-man Phil Bauhaus has been spotted in this group and would be a great option if this ends in a flat sprint.

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It’s Visma who are holding front position on the peloton to navigate the downhill. Gap down to 1:12 from the break. There has been whispers of a potential change in wind at the bottom which will make everyone nervous as they change direction en route to Montrond-les-Bains.

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If they can survive in front, there are three teams in the move with two riders: Movistar, NSN and TotalEnergies. This is just the latest example in the Spanish team’s ultra attacking season, which they showed off constantly at the Giro.

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Cooperation in the break is far from perfect, despite the multiple strong engines up in front.

The gap to the break is steadily decreasing on the descent.

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Whatever happens on today’s finale, it looks likely that Alex Baudin (EF) will successfully defend the yellow jersey again. With a possible sprint tomorrow, the stage 1 winner could hold it all the way until the brutal trio of mountain stages at the weekend.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The breakaway’s advantage remains at 1:27 for now.

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Approaching the last and a key downhill section of today’s stage, some of the GC teams like Visma and Ineos and moving up to position themselves.

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Jan Castellon has taken nine KOM points during his time in today’s breakaway, but that isn’t enough to overhaul the lead of Clement Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United) who will keep the blue and white polka-dot jersey tomorrow.

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The 12-rider break is approaching the crest of the final climb. Key to them making it will be cooperation, and legs, of course.

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The break is now on the final climb of the stage and the end of the 2100m of elevation gain. The break will have just 1:36 to defend on the descent and flat run to the line if they don’t extend their lead on the uphill.

Cofidis continue to pace on the front of the peloton. Sat just behind them are Visma and Alpecin-Premier Tech – will Van Aert go for the sprint?

2026-06-10T13:46:49.517Z

Onto the next section of descending, the breakaway is now approaching the final two climbs of the race, the Côte de Léringeux and Côte de Roche-en-Forez.

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It’s Cofidis who are on the front of the peloton and chasing for Bryan Coquard. Could today be another big one for Le Coq?

2026-06-10T13:28:21.667Z

The lead group is now over the Limites climb with a small gap on the chasing peloton. Their lead is down to 1:21.

Houle gave up his chase and is now going back to the peloton. Leemreize is still pushing on, but had dropped to a minute down on the leaders.

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Riders are nearing the bottom of the third climb of the day. They’ll be straight into the next ascent, the Col des Limites (3.7km at 5.5%).

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Confirmation of the riders in front: Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Sam Watson (Netcompany Ineos), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility), Pablo Castrillo, Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), Lars Craps (Lotto Intermarché), Jordan Jegat, Matteo Vercher (Total Energies), Joan Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), George Bennet, Marco Frigo (NSN).

They are 1:35 ahead of the peloton with Hugo Houle (NSN) and Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL) sat 30 seconds back in no man’s land.

The break is now almost two minutes up the road from the peloton with the gap increasing.

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The breakaway groups and the peloton are now on the Chougoirand climb, the longest ascent of today’s stage and the only one which is a category.2.

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Three more have followed suit after Fisher-Black to make it nine in the second grop: Marco Frigo (NSN), Lars Craps (Lotto Intermarché) and Sam Watson (Netcompany Ineos).

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Here’s a look at that initial breakaway trio, and Simmons’ impressive, but probably not aero-optimised facial hair.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The five riders chasing the break trio have joined together and gained another escapee, Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

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Simmons led the race over the cat.3 Côte du Temple, taking the 2 KOM points, but he will be more interested in building out the break’s gap on this short descent, before the hit the Chougoirand climb.

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The peloton sit 25 seconds behind that lead trio, with two groups of chasers in the road between them:

Pablo Castrillo, Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), and Matteo Vercher (Total Energies) at 10 seconds, and Jan Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and George Bennett (NSN) at 20 seconds.

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Approaching the top of the day’s second climb, a breakaway finally appears to be forming with US champ Simmons, Andreas Krøn (Uno-X Mobility) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) getting a gap on the Côte du Temple.

Midway through the Temple climb and racing is back together again. Seemingly no one can get ahead and stay ahead today.

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Netcompany Ineos and Visma-Lease a Bike were towards the front on that long downhill section. Reminder that they have two of the big name favourites for today among their ranks: Godon and Van Aert.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Onto the climb and the attacks are being launched once again.

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Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have lost a rider as Haimar Etxebarria abandons mid-way through stage 4. He had been back to the medical car several times before stopping.

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Unlike the first climb of the day, the Côte du Temple won’t be followed with a long section without any climbing.

Instead a short descent will lead the riders straight onto the Côte de Chougoirand (7.8km at 5.5%), where attacks could fly from the punchier break hunters.

The riders will change direction at the foot of the climb, out of the headwind. It likely still won’t be ideal conditions for the attacks, though, as it will now turn to a cross-headwind.

2026-06-10T12:32:10.539Z

With the sprint dealt with, the focus in the bunch will now turn to the next climb, the Côte du Temple (5.7km at 4.5%).

Having won the intermediate sprints on stages 1 and 2, Raisberg extends his lead in the points classification by another 10 points in Arlanc.

He had lead-out man Hugo Hofstetter for company in second over the line, gaining six points, with Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike taking four points.

The current holder of the points jersey who may be interested in the sprint for green jersey points is NSN’s Nadav Raisberg. He leads the classification by five points from Charmig.

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Coming up is intermediate sprint in Arlanc. The last time the Dauphiné came here was in 2017 when Arnaud Démare won the sprint on stage 2.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Uno-X Mobility tried briefly to attack the descent. They would have had good memories on the start line as the location was where Anthon Charmig won stage 2, but were quickly brought back.

It’s the strong headwind which is preventing the attackers from getting away. Judging by the map, that won’t change until they reach the 108km to go point, when the race turns east near Chaumont-le-Bourg.

(Image credit: ASO)

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The riders are heading onto a long section of downhill now. Unless anyone is really daring, the first for the break will have to reignite on the second climb of the day after 60km of racing are completed.

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Several more attacks have been launched as the race reaches Craponne-sur-Arzon, but none can get away to form a break.

This is good news for Netcompany Ineos and Jayco AlUla, who will want the fight to last as long as possible, making their job of controlling for Godon and Matthews later on easier.

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The defending Dauphiné champion may not be here, but Tadej Pogačar is still making the news:

With the descent navigated, the next 15km had uphill sections which offer more chances for escapees to try their luck before the big descent to Arlanc.

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Here’s a look at the big early split which threatened to form on that climb. All back together for now and this fight for the break could go on for some time.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Italian attacker Marco Frigo (NSN) was the rider who led the group over that first ascent, but the peloton is back together now.

With that first climb completed, five more do remain on the route, but the next categorised section uphill doesn’t come for another 50km at the Côte de Temple. The riders will have undulating roads, a long downhill, and the intermediate sprint in Arlanc to tackle before that, too.

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Splits are forming in the peloton as they crest the first climb of the day.

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Several riders have been trying to attack off the front on this first climb, includnig the likes of US champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) but no break has formed yet.

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There’s been another crash, with Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep) and Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies) coming down 5.5km into the stage.

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There’s been one abandon ahead of the stage start, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Ivo Oliveira.

The start of stage 4 has actually been delayed due to a crash. Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché) hit the deck in the neutral zone section en route to km 0.

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Straight from the start the riders will be on the approach to the first categorised climb of the day: the Col de la Croix de l’Arbre (4km at 4.1%).

Racing is fully underway on stage 4 now as the riders reach kilometre 0 and the flag is dropped.

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Respect on the start line between Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Vauequelin, and Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), who successfully defended the yellow jersey yesterday.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Big crowds were out to support the riders this morning.

The riders have rolled away from the start line in La Puy en Velay. There should be around 10 minutes of neutralised riding before they reach kilometre 0.

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One rider who would be right with, if not rated above, that trio under normal circumstances is Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike. After he struggled again on stage 3, it calls his form for the upcoming Tour de France into question:

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If you missed any of the action from yesterday’s stage, catch up with our report from what was a thrilling team time trial with big GC implications: