Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) has won his second stage of this year’s Dauphine Libere. The Frenchman charged into the lead in the last 200 m to win the rolling, 228-km ride from Anneyron to Sisteron in 5:30:53. Jonas Van Genechten (IAM Cycling) finished second, and Luka Mezgec (Giant-Alpecin) took third. Rohan Dennis (BMC) remains the maillot jaune.

The action began early. At three km, Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) sallied off of the front. The pair’s advantage was 8:05 at 40 km.

BMC and Cofidis put men at the front on behalf of Dennis and Bouhanni, respectively. For a time, the two teams’ pacesetting cut the escapees’ lead to about six minutes.

With 25 km left, the break led the bunch by 4:25. MTN-Qhubeka and Etixx-Quick Step went to the front and lent muscle to the chase. On the Category 4 Cote de la Marquise (215 km), Keizer dropped Van der Sande.

A number of riders attacked from the peloton. Among them were Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step). Wellens caught and dropped Keizer. Behind, Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Alaphilippe, and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) pursued.

Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) led the pursuit, which caught Wellens with 2.5 km left. Wellens’s teammate Tony Gallopin attacked with 1.3 km remaining, but Bouhanni’s teammate Julien Simon caught the Frenchman inside the one-km banner. Bouhanni lunged from fourth wheel into the lead with 200 m left.

Dennis said that overall the day went well but that the last 30 km were difficult. "Most of the day was standard, but the last 25 or 30 kilometers were a bit hectic and sometimes a bit scary," Dennis said. "Leading into the final climb, there was a lot of fighting going on to get to the bottom in the front. Then, the last two kilometers, there were a lot of people touching wheels in front of me. In the last 500 meters, there were a lot of near crashes. So it was a little bit of a stressful moment. But we all got through it unscathed."

In the overall, Dennis leads teammate Tejay van Garderen and Nibali. Tomorrow, the race for the general classification will begin in earnest. Stage 5, a 161-km ride from Digne-les-Bains to Pra-Loup, will end with the Category 1 Col d’Allos and the Category 2 climb to the finish. Will the fight at the end of the stage produce a change in race leadership? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!