Ivan Sosa won the 2021 Tour de la Provence followed by Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal. Photo: Twitter @IneosGrenadiers
Bahrain-Victorious lived up to their new name as their sprinter Phil Bauhaus edged double stage winner Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) in a sprint finish on the fourth and final stage of the Tour de la Provence today.
Bauhaus defeated Ballerini by around half a wheel-length with Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) close behind in third place.
“It was a super-fast final,” a delighted Bauhaus said after the stage.
“The team did really really well today. I wanted this result really bad. I went for it, and I was happy I could pass the guys at the front.
“I knew I needed to be in front with 600 metres to go, then I was strong enough to finish it off. It’s always good as a sprinter to win races. But I’m also happy for the team, it takes some pressure off us now we have that win. It gives us confidence for the next races,” Bauhaus added.
In the overall standings, stage three winner and leader heading into the final stage, Colombia’s Ivan Sosa (Ineos Grenadiers), finished safely in the peloton to seal overall victory.
There were some changes on the podium, however, as French world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) gained enough seconds in an early intermediate sprint to move from third to second overall, swapping places with Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos).
Alaphilippe finished 18 seconds behind Sosa, with Bernal a further second behind.
Thanks to his wins in the opening two stages, Ballerini won the points classification, while in his first race as a pro, Lotto-Soudal’s Filippo Conca won the mountain jersey.
Stage four
| 1 | Phil Bauhaus | GER | 3:47:01 |
| 2 | Davide Ballerini | ITA | |
| 3 | Nacer Bouhanni | FRA | |
| 4 | Matteo Moschetti | ITA | |
| 5 | John Degenkolb | GER | |
| 6 | Bryan Coquard | FRA | |
| 7 | Matthew Walls | GBR | |
| 8 | Niccolo Bonifazio | ITA | |
| 9 | Eduard-Michael Grosu | ROM | |
| 10 | Alexander Kristoff | NOR |
*Selected
| 77 | Nic Dlamini | RSA |
General classification
| 1 | Ivan Ramiro Sosa | COL | 17:00:17 |
| 2 | Julain Alaphilippe | FRA | +0:18 |
| 3 | Egan Bernal | COL | +0:19 |
| 4 | Wout Poels | NED | +0:39 |
| 5 | Patrick Konrad | AUT | +0:57 |
| 6 | Bauke Mollema | NED | |
| 7 | Jack Haig | AUS | +0:58 |
| 8 | Mauri Vansevenant | BEL | |
| 9 | Jesus Herrada | ESP | |
| 10 | Aleksander Vlasov | RUS |
*Selected
| 93 | Nic Dlamini | RSA | +19:15 |
The Pride of Colombia on the podium 🇨🇴 #TDLP2021 pic.twitter.com/xqiMBjrtpA
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) February 14, 2021
