Thor Hushovd won stage four of the Tour du Poitou Charentes, while Gustav Erik Larsson held on to the overall lead that he secured in the morning time trial.

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Norwegian Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam) finished the afternoon stage, a 98.5km ride from Monts sur Guesnes to Loudon, in four hours 15 minutes 28 seconds.

This year's Tour de France green jersey winner won the sprint for the line four seconds ahead of second-placed Jimmy Engoulvent (Besson Chaussures) and third-placed Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise des Jeux).

Earlier in the day, Larsson (Saxo Bank) dominated the 22.6km time trial through Mont sur Guesnes. The Swede finished with a time of 28:29, 25 seconds ahead of Frenchman David Le Lay (Agritubel) and 32 seconds on Australian Brett Lancaster (Cervelo TestTeam).

Larsson has only one more stage in which to hold on to the lead, Friday's 186.9km ride to Poitiers.

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