Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) strengthened his hold on the lead in the Paris-Nice race on Wednesday after finishing second in the time trial behind Soeren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb).
Schachmann finished the 15.1 kilometre ride in Saint-Amand-Montrond six seconds slower than Kragh Andersen.
The 26-year-old started the day with a 13-second lead and increased his advantage to 58 seconds.
Kragh Andersen jumped from 19th to second overall. His team leader Tiesj Benoot slipped to seventh, 12 seconds further back.
“I like some hills and tempo shifts so it was super good for me,” the Dane said after the victory. “I’m here to help the team and Tiesj. This was my chance. I’m so glad I took it.”
Thursday’s fifth stage is the longest of the event, a hilly 227km from Gannat to La Cote-Saint-Andre where the flat finish could give the sprinters a last chance to make an impact.
Paris-Nice 2020 – stage 4 results (Saint-Amand-Montrond – Saint-Amand-Montrond ITT):
| 1 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) | 18:51 |
| 2 | Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +06” |
| 3 | Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +12” |
| 4 | Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) | +13” |
| 5 | Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren) | +15” |
| 6 | Victor Campenaerts (NTT) | +17” |
| 7 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | +18” |
| 8 | Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) | +26” |
| 9 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Groupama-FDJ) | +27” |
| 10 | Lawson Craddock (EF Pro Cycling) | +29” |
Paris-Nice 2020 – general classification after stage 4:
| 1 | Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | 13:30:58 |
| 2 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) | +58” |
| 3 | Felix Grossschartner (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’01” |
| 4 | Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation) | +01’05” |
| 5 | Sergio Higuita (EF Pro Cycling) | +01’06” |
| 6 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrain McLaren) | +01’10” |
| 7 | Tiesj Benoot (Team Sunweb) | +01’11” |
| 8 | Mads Schmidt Würtz (Israel Start-Up Nation) | ,, |
| 9 | Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) | +01’15” |
| 10 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | +01’16” |
