Bbox Bouygues Telecom rider Pierre Rolland took his first win of the season in the fourth stage of the Circuit de Lorraine, France. The Frenchman held off the peloton by 18 seconds in the 176km stage between Maizières-les-Metz and Belleville. Fabio Felline continues to lead the overall, but now only two seconds ahead of Rolland.
The Bbox team had dominated the day, being represented in all the important moves and taking glory through Rolland. Directeur sportif Ismaël Mottier was quite happy with the whole squad's effort. "The team was in all the breaks today. There was a first move with 30 riders, including five Bbox."
But this wasn't the decisive escape yet. "It all came back together, then a group of 25 went." This was the move that would stay away. "We had several riders in this break, including Rolland. That was the good one," Mottier explained.
His captain then showed class in choosing the right place to go and keeping it up all the way to the finish. "Pierre attacked at the last difficulty of the day, with 10 kilometers to go. He took the descent with a gap of 40 seconds." This was enough for Rolland to ride to the finish line by himself, only losing half of his advantage.
Rolland will now try to gain some of the bonus seconds in the final 158km between Metz and Hayange on Sunday.
Results stage four
1 Pierre Rolland (BTL) 3h58'53
2 Antony Roux (FDJ) 0'18
3 Daniele Colli (FLM)
4 Luca Paolini (ASA)
5 Davy Commeyne (LAN)
6 Matteo Carrara (VAC)
7 Arthur Vichot (FDJ)
8 Donato Cannone (FLM)
9 Joeri Adams (RB3)
10 Cedric Pineau (RLM)
Overall standings after stage four
1 Fabio Felline (FOT) 15h22'38
2 Pierre Rolland (BTL) 0'02
3 Matteo Carrara (VAC) 0'14
4 Bert De Waele (LAN) 0'19
5 Simon Geschke (SKS) 0'21
6 Sergey Lagutin (VAC) 0'22
7 Edoardo Gonzalo Ramirez (BSC) 0'23
8 Maxime Bouet (ALM)
9 Freddy Bichot (BTL)
10 Cedric Pineau (RLM)