Dowsett Out Of The Leaders Jersey

Last updated : 11 April 2014 By Covsupport News Service

Movistar's British rider Alex Dowsett is out of the leaders yellow jersey after Garmin Sharp's Ramunas Navardauskas won the fourth stage of the 62nd Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire.

Dowsett led the riders on a 196km stage from Angers to Pre-en-Pail which included five laps of a 10.5km circuit and the Mont des Avaloirs climb.

Daniel Oss (BMC Racing), Michael Schwarzmann (NetApp-Endura) and Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) made their early attack stick and were 2.30 ahead after 48kms, 3.30 clear thirty kilometres later and 4.10 ahead after 95kms.

By the time, the trio hit the finishing circuits, their lead was down to 2.55 and with thirty six kilometres to go and Alex Dowsett having been dropped by the peloton, the escapers were caught. 

With around fifty riders left in the peloton, Europcar's Tommy Voeckler attacked with 20km to go and was followed by Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp), Brice Feillu (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Alexis Gougeard (AG2R).

Their break lasted for five kilometres and Francis Mourey of FDJ slipped away.

Inside the final three kilometres, Mourey was ten seconds clear but the twenty riders now making up the peloton pulled him back and Garmin Sharp's Ramunas Navardauskas rode to victory in 4.58.12, beating Julien Simon of Cofidis and Anthony Roux by four seconds. 

Ramunas Navardauskas leads the race from team mate Rohan Dennis by seventeen seconds. Steve Cummings of BMC is eighth with Dowsett now 83rd after finishing more than sixteen minutes down.