Team Sky's Lars-Petter Nordhaug retained a slim advantage in the general classification after finishing safely in the main bunch on stage four of the Post Danmark Rundt.

Nordhaug crossed the line 35th in the same time as stage winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), who prevailed in a bunch sprint in Odense.

The team worked hard during the stage to help keep the yellow jersey to the fore, as well as setting up Mark Cavendish in the sprint, the world champion placing fourth on the line.

Kristoff moved up to second in the GC, one second behind Nordhaug, thanks to the six-second time bonus. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol), 10th on the stage, drops down to third, a further two seconds back.

The race continues later on Saturday with a 14.5km individual time-trial in Kerteminde, which will be crucial for the GC contenders as Sunday's final stage offers little scope to attack.

Rain

Jonas Aaen Jørgensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Nikolay Trusov (RusVelo) and Christian Jersild Jensen (BlueWater) had gone clear in wet conditions early on stage four's 90km route from Ringe.

As the rain continued to fall, the three-man breakaway's advantage hovered around the minute mark for most of the day as Rabobank, Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda and Team Sky ensured the peloton kept it under control.

They were caught inside the final 10km as the race arrived in Odense - Denmark's third largest city - for the first of three laps, leaving a clear road for the sprinters to battle it out.

Kristoff won the race to the line, edging Andrew Fenn (OPQ) into second and Theo Bos (RAB) third.

Cavendish was the first Team Sky rider across the line in fourth, while Luke Rowe was 12th.