BELLEVILLE, France: Dutchman Tom-Jelte Slagter won a sprint finish to win the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice on Wednesday but breakaway companion Geraint Thomas is the new overall leader.

Garmin’s Slagter edged out Britain’s Thomas in a sprint finish at the end of the 201.5km stage from Nevers to Belleville, with Dutchman Wilco Kelderman coming home third five seconds later.

“I thought I’d be in good shape for this stage, but not that good,” said a beaming Slagter.

“The aim is still the overall standings. It’s the first day where it moved, now there are four more.”

Sky’s Thomas now leads the overall standings by three seconds from previous leader John Degenkolb of Giant-Shimano, continuing the British team’s recent domination of this race.

Bradley Wiggins won the 2012 edition before going on to win the Tour de France while Richie Porte triumphed last year.

Porte would have led Sky this time around as well but was shifted over to the Tirreno-Adriatico race at the last moment when current Tour de France holder Chris Froome had to pull out of that race due to a bad back, meaning Thomas was promoted to team leader in the ‘Race to the sun’.

“It’s incredible, I didn’t know I’d be team leader until Friday, after Richie pulled out,” said a delighted Thomas.

“I trained really well but to be honest, I hadn’t planned on attacking on the final climb.

“I was even asking myself what I was doing there!

“Paris-Nice is a great fixture on the calendar after the big tours. Last Friday I’d have never dreamed of wearing the yellow jersey.”

The day began with a four-man breakaway featuring Italy’s Valerio Agnoli, Spaniard Jesus Herrada, Luxembourg’s Laurent Didier and Frenchman Perrig Quemeneur, but they were caught with 18km left.

Soon afterwards, former Tour Down Under winner Slagter made his move on the tough Mont Brouilly with Thomas eventually joining him on the technical, winding descent just after the summit.

The pair held off a disorganized 30-strong chase group — despite the best efforts of Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali and Frenchman Romain Bardet — all the way to the finish while German Degenkolb dropped into the second chase group.

That proved crucial as he came home 18sec behind and lost his grip on the leader’s jersey.

Nibali now finds himself 19sec off the overall lead, alongsaide world champion Rui Costa, who struggled on the Brouilly climb but managed to hang on to the coat-tails of the 30-strong chase group.

The big loser of the day, though, was Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, who came home 57sec down, effectively seeing his overall hopes go up in smoke.

Thursday’s fifth stage is a hilly 153km from Creches-sur-Saone to Rive-de-Gier.

Cavendish takes Tirreno lead as Omega wins TTT

In San Vincenzo, Italy, British sprinter Mark Cavendish leads the Tirreno-Adriatico after his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team won a time trial to open the weeklong cycling race on Wednesday.

Omega clocked 20 minutes, 13 seconds over the 18.5-kilometer (11.5-mile) route from Donoratico to San Vincenzo.

It was an identical start from last year, when Cavendish also took the lead with an Omega win.

“I’m happy,” Cavendish said. “The team is stronger than last year.”

One of the greatest sprinters of all time, Cavendish has had a slow start to this season, with his only individual win coming in a stage of the Tour of Algarve last month.

Three-time time trial world champion Tony Martin was again the main engine behind Omega’s success, which should benefit Michal Kwiatkowski and Rigoberto Uran, who are aiming for the overall win.

Orica Greenedge finished second, 11 seconds behind, and Movistar — featuring Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana — was third, 18 seconds behind.

Alberto Contador’s Tinkoff Saxo placed fourth, 24 seconds behind. Sky, with Bradley Wiggins and Richie Porte, was sixth, 27 seconds behind.

Porte was added to Sky’s squad last week when Tour de France winner Chris Froome announced that he would sit out the race due to a back injury.