After 120 km on the lam, a four-man break was swallowed up with just 3 km to go and stage 4 wrapped up with a bunch sprint. Christian Vande Velde (12th) and Thomas Voeckler (26th) both finished with the same time as the stage winner. The French rider, however, managed to pick up 3″ in bonus sprints along the way, increasing his lead on Christian to 4″.

Tomorrow’s final and longest stage offers plenty of opportunities for the Argyle to bring home their first yellow jersey. DS Lionel Marie said that Voeckler’s team is dead after chasing the break all day and keeping their leader in sprint position. So stay tuned for the Sarthe finale!

Slipstream stage 4 results
1. Mikhaylo Khalilov 4:27′

12. Christian Vande Velde mt
55. Chris Sutton mt
57. Julian Dean mt
71. Kilian Patour +32″
82. Pat McCarty +1′01″
88. Dan Martin +6′38″

Slipstream GC after stage 4
1. Thomas Voeckler 12:01′09″

2. Christian Vande Velde +4″
47. Julian Dean +49″
55. Kilian Patour +1′01″
86. Dan Martin +7′29″
89. Chris Sutton +10′52″
93. Pat McCarty +15′04″