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Paris - Quick Step's Julian Alaphilippe beat a bevy of top-drawer climbing talent to win the fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in a summit finish in lashing rain on Thursday.
Sky's Gianni Moscon emerged as the new yellow jersey after finishing in the winning pack along with Ireland's Dan Martin, Welshman Geraint Thomas and the great French hope Romain Bardet of AG2R.
This first foray into the Alps saw an early escape which only ended with 400m to go when Martin dug in and caught the last survivor the Italian Dario Cataldo of Astana.
Martin, who rides for Emirates, went for the line setting a pace too hot for overnight leader Michal Kwiatkowski. Despite losing a little ground, the Pole is still level second with Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas at 6sec in the overall classification.
Martin, Bardet and Thomas were all overtaken a couple of metres before the finish line as Alaphilippe, who rides for Quickstep, timed his late burst to perfection.
"I felt great and knew I had a chance to win just looking at the race profile before the race," said the Frenchman who is fourth in the overall at 48 seconds.
"I was uncomfortable in all that rain but I just gave it everything I had in the last 50 metres," he said.
Friday's stage culminates with a 12.7km climb at an average gradient of 7 percent, which may suit a climber such as Briton Adam Yates of Mitchelton or Bardet, who are seventh and ninth respectively at 1:11 and 1:49.
Results from Thursday's 181kim fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine from Chazey-sur-Ain to Lans-en-Vercors:
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/Quick-Step) 4hr 26min 58sec, 2. Dan Martin (IRL/EAU) same time, 3. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) s.t., 4. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) s.t., 5. Pierre Latour (FRA/ALM) at 5sec, 6. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) s.t., 7. Emmanuel Buchmann (GER/BOR) s.t., 8. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 08, 9. Gianni Moscon (ITA/SKY) s.t., 10. Tiesj Benoot (BEL/LOT) s.t.
Selected others:
19. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 17, 26. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) 32
Overall standings
1. Gianni Moscon (ITA/SKY) 13hr 55min 30sec, 2. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) at 06sec, 3. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) s.t., 4. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/QST) 48, 5. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 49, 6. Bob Jungels (LUX/QST) 1:05, 7. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 1:11, 8. Tiesj Benoot (BEL/LOT) 1:13, 9. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 1:41, 10. Marc Soler (ESP/MOV) 1:48
Selected others:
20. Dan Martin (IRL/EAU) 2:40, 22. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) 2:49
