The sprinters made certain the 173-kilometer stage two at the Critérium du Dauphiné wouldn’t end with a stage one repeat after they were thwarted by a late attack; when the day’s well-controlled three-man break were finally reeled in the fastmen went to war, and today nothing prevented the bunch sprint. 

As the positioning battle raged into the final hectic kilometers, Trek Factory Racing fought the safety line: stay clear of the craziness occurring between the sprinters’ teams but close enough to the front line to ensure no last-minute catastrophe could wreak havoc on their GC chances.

In the end everything played out as it should – Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) proved best of the fast legs and won the bunch kick, while Trek Factory Racing GC men arrived safely in the peloton, ready for the first taste of their battle that will begin to take shape tomorrow in the team time trial, and continue in stage five with the race’s first uphill finish.

However, there was one member of the pinstriped team that was oddly fighting among the sprinters in the chaotic finale: Fumy Beppu - with added motivation today - sparred all the way to the line to finish in 12th place.

Beppu explained, “It was really exciting for me today because in the last 100kms of today’s stage I knew the roads!  There were so many spectators shouting my name, and my daughter and wife were at the finish, which is exactly three kilometers from my home.  So I thought I should do something today - either a breakaway or sprint - in the end I did a sprint.”

“After the Giro I feel quite okay,” he continued. “Many riders say after the Giro it can be really painful, but I feel recovered. I am waiting the mountain stage and we will see, and tomorrow I will try my best to help the team’s GC riders.”

And although most of the team arrived unscathed, team warrior Yaroslav Popovych had another typical crazy day at the office, throwing all his energy into the team while tolerating a few crashes and avoiding others. But in his true hardman style he will be back on his bike and ready to go again tomorrow.

“It was not my day!” Popovych smiled. “I had a small crash earlier, which was nothing just a crazy crash, then I just avoided one later where a guy hit my left hand. Then, at the end something happened in the front and I braked to try and save myself but I crashed.  I have a little pain, but with rest tonight and a short TTT tomorrow I will be okay.”