Eddie Dunbar has slipped down the general classification at Critérium du Dauphiné after today's stage 4 TT into La Bâtie d’Urfé. The 31.9km test was one suited to the powerful riders and was never going to favour the Irish flyweight climber.
His Ineos Grenadiers team mate, and world TT champion, Filippo Ganna took the stage win in an average speed of 53.865km per hour. He beat Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) by just two seconds, with Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) in 3rd at 17 seconds.
Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) placed 4th at 39 seconds while general classification favourite, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), was 5th some 42 seconds off Ganna. However, while Olympic TT champion Roglič said he was happy with his effort, he added he was not yet on his best form.
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While he lost some time today, none of the riders ahead of him are likely to climb with the leaders at the weekend when the race tackles some very tough mountain passes. It means he is now ideally placed to win the race overall.
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Van Aert had the yellow jersey again on today's stage and retained his race lead, with Cattaneo now in 2nd place at 53 seconds and Roglič next, at 56 seconds. His team mate - and fellow possible GC winner - Jonas Vingegaard is now 4th overall, some 1:26 down on leader Van Aert and 30 seconds down on Roglič. Vingegaard is on the same time on GC as Ethan Hayter, who is 5th.
Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), another potential winner, is now 6th overall at 1:39. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) is 7th at 1:45. New Spanish hope, 19-year-old Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), is 8th at 1:48.
Dunbar began today's TT in 14th overall and in a group of 23 riders all 16 seconds down on race leader Van Aert. He placed 45th today, losing 2:38 to Ganna, and has slipped to 25th overall at 2:52. Tomorrow's stage 5 takes the riders 162km from Thizy-les-Bourgs to Chaintré and while there are four categorised climbs, they are small.
