The logic of the exercise was respected: the winner of the grand chrono of the Tour de France 2021 beat the Olympic champion of the discipline (Roglic), beaten by two seconds at the top of the finish hill, and a former double champion of the world, the Australian Rohan Dennis, third.

Belgian Wout van Aert, during the 4 stage of Paris-Nice, a time trial between Domerat and Montluçon, March 9, 2022 FRANCK FIFE AFP

But the gaps remained tight, this time, to the point that the fourth, the Swiss European champion Stefan Küng, was only 10 seconds ahead of van Aert, winner at an average of 49.224 km/h despite the slope steep in the last hectometres.

If the Briton Simon Yates resisted perfectly (11 sec) as did Pierre Latour (19 sec), the first Frenchman in seventh place in the stage, the delay of several candidates for the podium proved to be more substantial.

More than 40 seconds for the Briton Adam Yates and the Portuguese Joao Almeida, more than a minute for the Colombian Nairo Quintana.

In the general classification, Wout van Aert now has 10 seconds over Primoz Roglic, who had won his last three disputed times (Tokyo Olympics and the two Vuelta), and 28 seconds over the former yellow jersey wearer Christophe Laporte.

Because the Frenchman very honorably defended his property to take 11th place in the stage, 29 seconds behind his teammate.

Frenchman Christophe Laporte, during the 4 stage of Paris-Nice, a time trial between Domerat and Montluçon, March 9, 2022 FRANCK FIFE AFP

A Sean Kelly profile

Asked about his chances of joining Nice in yellow at the weekend, van Aert more or less dodged: "I hope to wear this shirt as long as possible, before Primoz takes it."

Apart from the arrival at the Col de Turini (Saturday) to the theoretical advantage of Roglic because of his qualities as a climber on an ascent of some 15 kilometers, the next stages are perfectly suited to the Belgian champion who presents a profile worthy of Sean Kelly. , the Irishman who won Paris-Nice seven times in the 1980s.

But the men of Jumbo repeated it at the start of Yvelines, it is indeed Roglic the leader of the team as much as the Slovenian has a score to settle with the "race for the sun", a year after having lost on fall on the last day.

Slovenian Primoz Roglic, during the 4 stage of Paris-Nice, a time trial between Domerat and Montluçon, March 9, 2022 FRANCK FIFE AFP

Looking at the upcoming menu, van Aert commented: "the hardest stages are coming."

Starting with the 5th stage which links the Loire to the Ardèche on Thursday and crosses the difficult Col de la Mure (7.6 km at 8.3%) 33 kilometers from the finish judged in the village of Saint-Sauveur- de-Montagut.

"There are good things to do," added the wearer of the yellow jersey, who signed the 32nd victory of his career, his second of the season.

This year, the Belgian is making a most impressive card: in five days of racing since his resumption on February 26, he has done the worst... third.

© 2022 AFP