Stage 4: Vichy - Saint-Étienne 174km
Paris-Nice 4: Christian Vande Velde wins solo
Christian Vande Velde (Garmin) claimed a solo victory in stage 4 (AFP/Getty Images)
American Christian Vande Velde, riding for Garmin, won the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice race on Wednesday, a 173.5km ride from Vichy to Saint Etienne.
Sylvain Chavanel of France, riding for Quick Step, retained the overall lead.
Vande Velde, who finished fifth in last year's Tour de France, broke away from the rest of the field to finish 15 seconds ahead of a group containing Spanish pre-race favourite Alberto Contador of the Astana team.
France's Jonathan Hivert finished second behind the 32-year-old American, just ahead of the Italian Mirco Lorenzetto in third.
One day after taking over the yellow jersey, Chavanel lost 30 seconds on some of his main rivals, including Contador, after being outpaced in the final climb.
In the overall standings, Chavanel has a lead of just six seconds over Spain's Juan Manuel Garate, with Contador 36 seconds off the pace in fourth place.
Thursday's fifth stage is a hilly 204km ride between Annonay and Vallon-Pont-d'Arc.
For full results, report and photos, visit Cyclingnews.com
© AFP 2009
2009 Paris-Nice Stage 4: solo victory by Christian Vande Velde
STAGE 4 RESULTS
| 1 Christian Vande Velde (USA|Garmin - Slipstream) | 4:01:31 | |
| 2 Jonathan Hivert (Fra|Skil-Shimano) | 0:00:14 | |
| 3 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita|Lampre - NGC) | ||
| 4 Christophe Moreau (Fra|Agritubel) | ||
| 5 Jens Voigt (Ger|Team Saxo Bank) | ||
| 6 Amaël Moinard (Fra|Cofidis) | ||
| 7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den|Team Saxo Bank) | ||
| 8 Maxime Monfort (Bel|Team Columbia - Highroad) | ||
| 9 Fränk Schleck (Lux|Team Saxo Bank) | ||
| 10 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa|Rabobank) | ||
| General classification after stage 4 | ||
| 1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra|Quick Step) | 13:31:36 | |
| 2 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa|Rabobank) | 0:00:06 | |
| 3 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa|Rabobank) | 0:00:36 | |
| 4 Alberto Contador (Spa|Astana) | ||
| 5 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel|Quick Step) | 0:00:37 | |
| 6 Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa|Caisse d'Epargne) | 0:00:45 | |
| 7 David Millar (GBr|Garmin - Slipstream) | 0:00:50 | |
| 8 Antonio Colom (Spa|Team Katusha) | 0:00:55 | |
| 9 Vladimir Karpets (Rus|Team Katusha) | 0:00:57 | |
| 10 Jens Voigt (Ger|Team Saxo Bank) | 0:01:03 |
