Egan Bernal will not start stage 4 of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Bernal, the 2019 Tour de France champion, was in seventh place on GC after three stages, 31 seconds behind race leader and expected Tour de France rival Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma).

Bernal was always a few seconds behind Roglic in the summit finishes of stages 2 and 3, but Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas were the strongest riders on Team Ineos as they made the difference on the final climb.

Leaving the race with two stages remaining puts into question the Colombian's ability to complete the Tour de France recon ride with the team in the coming weeks and his final form for the most important Grand Tour of the 2020 season.

Teammate Geraint Thomas said at the start of stage 4: "He won't start today. 'He has a bit of a back injury and it's best not to push too hard. It's a short turn to the Tour, so it's important that he finishes 100%. I don't think it's a big problem, but you can never be too careful. He has done two races before this one, so he has the race he needs. We just have to make sure everything is 100% perfect and that there are no problems."

Roglic seemed surprised by the news surrounding Bernal, but admitted that the race is not over yet, with many top climbers within striking distance of the yellow jersey. "I don't think this is a very big change for us. I need to focus on my job and do the best I can. I'm looking forward to this stage," he said. It's not all on Egan and there are a lot of really strong riders. It will be a hard race. I don't know what will happen today, but it will be a hard race for sure. There are mountains in the beginning, but for us we want to be in control and make a good situation. That's what we want to focus on," said Roglic.

With the loss of Bernal, Team Ineos lost the GC leader for the race. Both Thomas and Chris Froome lost significant time, and Pavel Sivakov is in 18th place in the overall standings, 3:15 behind. Click here for live coverage of stage 4 of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

More to follow...