There was a dramatic finish to the fourth stage of the Etoile de Bessèges, with Arnaud Molmy promoted to first after Samuel Dumoulin was relegated for cutting the course in the final kilometre.

The testing 140km circular route from Ales saw numerous attacks and the peloton was split into two in the middle of the stage.

However the final five-man breakaway was reeled in with 3km to go after the peloton regrouped, seemingly setting up a fourth sprint finish in as many days.

But Cofidis rider Dumoulin, winner of Friday's third stage, looked to have slipped the field going into the finishing straight as he crossed the line around 20 metres in front.

Molmy won the bunch sprint from the rest of the peloton and after a protest from Team Roubaix-Lille Métropole he was promoted into first place around 15 minutes after the stage had finished.

Anthony Geslin (Française des Jeux) and Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post-Sean Kelly) were moved up to second and third respectively.

The change of placings was significant in the overall standings as Molmy now takes the leader's jersey from Borut Bozic, the winner of the opening two stages.

The Frenchman has a 10-second advantage over Dumoulin to take into Sunday's final stage which covers 145km from Gagnières to Bessèges.

Augustyn challenge

Team Sky had targeted Saturday's stage beforehand and their riders were quickly to the fore.

John-Lee Augustyn was in the leading group from the 10km mark and when the peloton split he was joined by Michael Barry and Nicolas Portal.

However the main field joined back together with just over 50km to go and from that point on another bunch finish was on the cards.

That view was echoed by Barry who told us: "The team was active from the start today and we rode according to plan although we were hoping the race would have been more selective and Steve [Cummings] could have tried to jump away in the finale.

"Instead we ended up with another field sprint so we didn't really have any cards to play which was a shame."

Sympathy

Barry also had sympathy for first-across-the-line Dumoulin, saying: "The result wasn't a big surprise as Dumoulin is clearly in fine fitness and was a favourite going into the race today.

"It is a shame the finish wasn't more clearly marked as half of the peloton went around the roundabout one way and the other half the other.

"In the end, we are responsible as riders for knowing the circuit but in the race when absorbed in the moment it can be confusing if it isn't clearly marked.

"The lack of barriers made the finish far more chaotic than it needed to be."

Looking ahead to Sunday's final stage, Barry admitted another bunch finish is more than likely, adding: "If the wind is blowing hard the peloton could split up but as there aren't any significant climbs it will likely finish in a group sprint."