Dauphine: Field Thins in Mountains

No one wanted to be left behind in today's first mountain stage, and most of the top contenders made sure not to do so. There were more attacks than can be reported in one writeup, but nearly everyone still in contention for the race was involved. It started off when the daily early breakaway was narrowed down to just Stefan Denfi. Denfi put a noble effort forth trying to hold on but ran out of gas at the climb. Artem Ovechkin of Katusha tried to first jump the gap to Denfi, and contender Denis Menchov quickly recognized the opportunity to join up. After those two got clear, Alberto Contador responded by jumping the gap along with leader Janez Brajkovic and eventual stage winner Nicolas Vogondy. After Denfi was caught and passed, the chase group caught Ovechkin and Menchov and formed a small group of riders in the final climb. Excluded from this group were top contenders Tejay Van Garderen, who put together a strong chase ride near the end to cut the final distance to under 40 seconds, and David Millar, who did not fare so well dropping over 1:35 to the leaders. After this group was formed, Vogondy wasted no time again going over the top to open up a significant gap. The rest of the group was unable to properly organize a chase on the tough climb and began to thin out themselves. The closest chaser to Vogondy was Romain Sicard (12 sec) and then leader Janez Brajkovic in third (15 sec) as well as Contador (also 15 secs behind). It was a great day for Brajkovic, who extended his lead to 1:15 and took control of the points race as well. (2nd place Geraint Thomas will wear the points jersey tomorrow, as Brajkovic will be wearing the leaders yellow.) Tomorrow is when the climbing really starts to take effect, with most of the early parts of the race in a descent until a massive climb near the end. This climb will likely drop many of the riders away from contention, so I would definitely not expect a mass sprint.

The peloton should run incredibly thin after this climb, and even the leaders are in danger of being dropped if they do not make the climb. This will be one of the last chances for Menchov to attack (or Contador if he so chooses). Brajkovic's Radioshack teammates should try to keep a mark on these riders, although with a climb this massive there are no guarantees that a break can be prevented. It will be mainly up to Brajkovic himself to hold the lead and keep up in the tough climb in Chamrousse. I will deem tomorrow's stage as probably the most important so far for everyone in the race.

CLASSIFICATIONS AFTER STAGE 4

OVERALL

1. Janez Brajkovic

2. Tejay Van Garderen -1:15

3. Alberto Contador -1:41

4. David Millar -1:56

5. Nicolas Vogondy -2:43

6. Denis Menchov -2:55

7. Jurgen Van Den Broeck -3:06

8. Christian Knees -3:10

19. Geraint Thomas -4:38

21. Chris Horner -4:44

MOUNTAINS

1. Bram Tankink 23

2. Guillaume Bonnafond 22

3. Cyril Gautier 20

POINTS

1. Janez Brajkovic 65

2. Geraint Thomas 64

3. Alberto Contador 58

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Team Katusha

2. Garmin-Transitions -20

3. Bbox Bouygues Telecom -32