Wout Poel (Team Sky) wins Paris Nice stage ITT, France Road.

Wout Poels (Team Sky) powers to Paris Nice stage 4 individual time trial and move within striking distance of the yellow jersey which is on the shoulders (Pro Astana) Luis Leon Sanchez.

 The 18.4km test from La Fouillouse to Saint-Étienne was not a straightforward one, but Poels made light work of the hilly course to take the stage win, 11 seconds ahead of Marc Soler (Movistar Team), while Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) recovered well from a misjudged corner on the final descent to place third, 16 seconds down. With four stages still to come, the Saint-Étienne time trial is far from decisive, but it has added greater definition to the general classification picture.

Soler’s strong showing keeps him in contention to continue Movistar’s longstanding tradition in this race, which stretches back to Miguel Indurain’s first victory in Reynolds colours back in 1989.

 Top Ten General Classification

 1, Wout Poels (Netherland) Team Sky 0:25:33,
2, Marc Soler (Spain) Movistar Team 0:00:11,
3, Julian Alaphilippe (France) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:16, 
4, Felix Grossschartner (Autra) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:20,  
5, Ion Izagirre (Spain) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:27, 
6, Gorka Izagirre (Spain) Bahrain-Merida, 
 7, Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28, 
8, Tim Wellens (Belgium) Lotto Soudal 0:00:29,  
9, Sergio Henao (Colombia) Team Sky 0:00:33,
10, Esteban Chaves (Colombia) Mitchelton-Scott