Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni wins stage 4 of Paris-Nice race

By foxsports
Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:03 p.m. ET

ROMANS-SUR-ISERE, France (AP) French rider Nacer Bouhanni outpaced his rivals in a sprint finish to win the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice race on Thursday, while Australian Michael Matthews retained the overall lead.

Matthews beat Bouhanni in controversial circumstances on Tuesday's second stage when Bouhanni was penalized for deviating from his line in the final sprint.

There was no doubt this time, however.

Bouhanni held off Belgian rider Edward Theuns and Andre Greipel of Germany to win the 195.5-kilometer (121-mile) trek from Julienas to Romans-sur-Isere at the foot of the Vercors mountain range in the Alps of southeastern France.

Matthews leads Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands by 14 seconds overall, with Patrick Bevin of New Zealand 19 seconds back in third place.