Image 1 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) on the podium (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 2 of 46 Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 3 of 46 Climbing to the summit of Mont Faron (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 46 Oliver Zaugg (Team Saxo - Tinkoff) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 5 of 46 Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 6 of 46 Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 7 of 46 Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat Polkowice) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 8 of 46 Francesco Reda (Androni Giocattoli) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 9 of 46 Thomas Rohregger (RadioShack - Nissan) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 10 of 46 Nicolas Roche (Team Saxo - Tinkoff) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 11 of 46 Diego Rosa (Androni Giocattoli) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 12 of 46 Ivan Santaromita (BMC) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 13 of 46 Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 14 of 46 Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) finishes on Mont Faron (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 15 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R la Mondiale) (Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne) Image 16 of 46 Riders from BigMat ascend Mont Faron (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 17 of 46 Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 18 of 46 Ion Izagirre (Euskaltel) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 19 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R) wins on Mont Faron (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 20 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 21 of 46 Francesco Reda (Androni) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 22 of 46 Maxime Monfort (RadioShack) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 23 of 46 Fabio Duarte (Colombia) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 24 of 46 Bauke Mollema (Blanco) on Mont Faron (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 25 of 46 Maxime Monfort (RadioShack) rode himself into the race lead (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 26 of 46 Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 27 of 46 Ivan Santaromita (BMC) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 28 of 46 Thomas Lofkvist (IAM) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 29 of 46 Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat Polkowice) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 30 of 46 Ivan Santaromita (BMC Racing Team) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 31 of 46 Lars Boom (Team Blanco) lost his race lead (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 32 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) on the podium (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 33 of 46 New race leader Maxime Monfort (RadioShack Leopard) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 34 of 46 New race leader Maxime Monfort (RadioShack Leopard) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 35 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) escaped on the slopes of Mont Faron to win stage 4 of the Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 36 of 46 Thomas Lövkvist (IAM Cycling) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 37 of 46 Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked early to help set up his teammate Peraud (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 38 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) wins on Mont Faron (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 39 of 46 Stage 4 winner Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 40 of 46 Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) was too good on the stage to Mont Faron (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 41 of 46 Francesco Reda (Androni Giocattoli) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 42 of 46 Francesco Reda (Androni Giocattoli) finished second behind Peraud (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 43 of 46 Bauke Mollema (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) looked strong and finished third (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 44 of 46 Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 45 of 46 Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 46 of 46 Thomas Lövkvist (IAM Cycling) at the start of stage 4 (Image credit: Sirotti)

Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) escaped on the slopes of Mont Faron to win stage 4 of the Tour Méditerranéen. The former mountain bike rider rode clear on the slopes of the final climb after strong work from his teammate Matteo Montaguti.

Maxime Monfort (RadioShack) moved into the race lead, surviving the attacks from the climbers to take a one second lead over previous race leader Lars Boom (Team Blanco). Thomas Lofkvist (IAM Cycling) moved up to third overall.

Peraud jumped clear in the final 5 kilometres of the climb and quickly established a 26 second lead over a chase group that included Francesco Reda (Androni Giocattoli), Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat) and Alexandre Geniez (FDJ). Peraud had finished second the last time the race climbed Mont Faron, back in 2011, when David Moncoutie won the stage.

But today Peraud hung on to take his first professional win on the road, with Reda taking second and Bauke Mollema (Team Blanco) third. Montaguti, who had set-up Peraud’s move with an initial attack, finished 5th.

The stage began with news that Garmin-Sharp’s road bikes had been stolen the night before. Despite a number of teams offering up valuable support the American team was forced to retire from the race.

Marco Pinotti (Team BMC) who crashed on stage 2, Kiserlovski (RadioShack), El Farès (Sojasun) and Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) were also non-starters but an early break formed with Julian Kern (AG2R-La Mondiale), Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM), Brice Feillu (Sojasun), Juan Arango (Colombia), Geoffroy Lequatre (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Daniel Oss (BMC) and Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling) going clear.

After 100 kilometres of racing the group had established a three minute lead. The gap extended to 3:30 when the peloton slowed after Lars Boom had to deal with a puncture but with under 30 kilometres to go the lead hovered at just over a minute. Roman Kreuziger (Saxo - Tinkoff) quit the race before the climb of the Col de Garde, which acted as a teaser before Mont Faron.

Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto) attacked when Peraud made his move but the Frenchman was simply too strong for the Lotto rider, who faded away.

Full Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 3:33:12 2 Francesco Reda (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:19 3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:00:24 4 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ 0:00:27 5 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:31 6 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling 0:00:35 7 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:39 8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Polsat Polkowice 0:00:41 9 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:00:44 10 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 11 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:45 12 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 13 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:00:54 14 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ 15 Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Colombia 16 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Sojasun 17 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 18 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 19 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 20 Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:58 21 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia 0:01:05 22 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Sojasun 0:01:09 23 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:11 24 Gustav Larsson (Swe) IAM Cycling 25 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) RadioShack Leopard 0:01:14 26 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:01:17 27 Lars Boom (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 28 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:01:22 29 Riccardo Chiarini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:25 30 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 31 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:28 32 Patrick Facchini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 33 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:31 34 Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia 0:01:33 35 Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:56 36 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 37 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:59 38 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 39 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 0:02:06 40 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:02:10 41 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:16 42 Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:02:22 43 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:02:24 44 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:27 45 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 0:02:30 46 Pierre-Luc Perrichon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement 0:02:33 47 Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:02:37 48 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 0:02:39 49 Théo Vimpere (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 50 Thomas Degand (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty 51 Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun 52 Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard 0:02:51 53 Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack Leopard 54 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 55 Grégoire Tarride (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 0:02:56 56 Thomas Vaubourzeix (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 0:03:15 57 Romain Bacon (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 58 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 59 Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol 0:03:24 60 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement 0:03:32 61 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ 62 David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar 63 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ 64 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia 0:03:54 65 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 66 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 67 Pawel Charucki (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 0:04:10 68 Stef Clement (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:04:13 69 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:23 70 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:04:28 71 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 0:04:31 72 Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 0:04:34 73 Grega Bole (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 74 Nikita Novikov (Rus) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:04:37 75 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Sojasun 0:04:43 76 Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement 77 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:04:57 78 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 79 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:42 80 Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ 81 Steven Tronet (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 0:05:47 82 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar 0:06:00 83 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 84 Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 85 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar 0:06:20 86 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 0:07:02 87 Clément Koretzky (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement 0:07:12 88 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:07:18 89 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:07:46 90 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:08:03 91 Bruno Pires (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:08:49 92 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 93 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:09:41 94 Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard 95 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 96 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol 97 Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 98 Julian Kern (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 99 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team 100 Dominic Klemme (Ger) IAM Cycling 101 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol 102 Yoann Paillot (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 103 Thomas Rostollan (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 104 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement 105 Tomasz Kiendys (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 106 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty 107 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 108 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement 109 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 110 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 111 Maxime Daniel (Fra) Sojasun 112 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Accent Jobs-Wanty 113 Piotr Gawronski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 114 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 115 Juan Pablo Suarez Suarez (Col) Colombia 116 Brice Feillu (Fra) Sojasun 117 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 0:09:49 118 Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Col) Colombia 0:11:14 119 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:11:55 120 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 121 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 122 José Gonçalves (Por) La Pomme Marseille 0:12:23 123 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:12:31 124 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 125 Jetse Bol (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 126 Rick Flens (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 127 Guillaume Faucon (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 128 Antoine Lavieu (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 129 Will Routley (Can) Accent Jobs-Wanty 130 Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:13:11 131 Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:16 132 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 133 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack Leopard 0:14:31 134 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 135 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Accent Jobs-Wanty 136 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:14:44 137 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty 0:14:48 138 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:16:49 139 Graeme Brown (Aus) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0:17:13 140 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team DNF Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits DNS Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team DNS Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard DNS Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin-Sharp DNS Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp DNS Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp DNS Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp DNS Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Sharp DNS Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp DNS Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp DNS Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp DNF Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff DNF Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) CCC Polsat Polkowice DNS Mateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice DNS Julien El Fares (Fra) Sojasun DNF David Lelay (Fra) Sojasun DNF Jérôme Gilbert (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty DNS Benjamin Giraud (Fra) La Pomme Marseille DNF Julio Alexis Camacho Bernal (Col) Colombia DNS Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement DNS Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement DNS Fabien Bacquet (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93 DNF Dimitri Le Boulch (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93