Ineos rider Filippo Ganna won stage four of Etoile de Besseges after shaking off the other survivors of a
long breakaway in the final kilometers on Saturday. The 24-year-old Italian was part of a small group that escaped early in the 151.6 kilometer ride from Rousson to Saint-Siffret, north-east of Avignon.
The five-day race is the first of the season on the UCI calendar and has attracted a strong field including Ganna’s Tour de France-winning team-mates Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas.
Ganna, the world time-trial champion, powered away from the other six breakaway members on a gentle slope. Despite an energetic pursuit, Ganna held on to win by 17 seconds. He was followed home by Frenchman Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and German Pascal Ackermann (Bora).
Belgian Tim Wellens of Lotto-Soudal kept his 44-second lead over compatriot Edward Theuns of Trek-Segafredo in the overall classification.
The race finishes on Sunday with an 11km time-trial in Ales.
STAGE 4 RESULTS
| 1 | GANNA Filippo | INEOS Grenadiers | 3:22:59 |
| 2 | LAPORTE Christophe | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:17 |
| 3 | ACKERMANN Pascal | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 4 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | AG2R Citroën Team | ,, |
| 5 | MENTEN Milan | Bingoal – Wallonie Bruxelles | ,, |
| 6 | COQUARD Bryan | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | ,, |
| 7 | BARTHE Cyril | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | ,, |
| 8 | POLITT Nils | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 9 | JENSEN August | DELKO | ,, |
| 10 | WÜRTZ SCHMIDT Mads | Israel Start-Up Nation | ,, |
OVERALL RESULTS
| 1 | WELLENS Tim | Lotto Soudal | 13:40:54 |
| 2 | THEUNS Edward | Trek – Segafredo | 0:44 |
| 3 | WÜRTZ SCHMIDT Mads | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:46 |
| 4 | KWIATKOWSKI Michał | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:48 |
| 5 | GILBERT Philippe | Lotto Soudal | 0:49 |
| 6 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | AG2R Citroën Team | 0:50 |
| 7 | STEWART Jake | Groupama – FDJ | ,, |
| 8 | POLITT Nils | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 9 | EIKING Odd Christian | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | ,, |
| 10 | GOGL Michael | Team Qhubeka ASSOS | 0:58 |
RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini
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