Steele von Hoff (UniSA-Australia), who will ride for the British-based NFTO Pro Cycling team in 2015, sprinted to victory on stage four of the Tour Down Under as Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) avoided a late crash to maintain his overall lead.

Australian criterium champion Von Hoff will ride on the British domestic circuit this season with NFTO but is currently representing the host nation down under.

And he took full advantage of the opportunity by delivering the team’s second victory in four days, following Jack Bobridge’s stage one victory and subsequent spell in the ochre jersey.

Von Hoff benefitted from Bobridge’s lead-out to out-sprint Wouter Wippert (Drapac) and Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) and take the stage win.

A big crash behind Von Hoff caught out several big-name riders and left only a small group to contest the final sprint.

With just one classified climb on the route, Bobridge was active from the start as he looked to re-claim the King of the Mountains lead. The Australian’s initial move saw him joined by several other riders but, unhappy with the composition, he sat up and attacked again when the race came back together.

This time, with British champion Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky), Cedric Pineau (FDJ.fr) and Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEDGE) for company, Bobridge’s group earned a small lead.

Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin) tried to bridge, but a puncture scuppered his chances as the gap grew to a maximum of 2’30”.

Bobridge claimed the maximum points atop the day’s only climb and then sat up to return to the bunch, with Orica-GreenEDGE setting a fast pace at the front of the peloton.

On grippy roads, the Australian team – with BMC Racing and the ochre jersey Rohan Dennis watching closely – looked to put the hurt on and swept up the original break by the 67km mark.

That allowed Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) to kick from the front and cut his overall deficit to Dennis by three bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.

With their job done, and after a huge amount of work from Cameron Meyer, Orica-GreenEDGE were then happy to see BMC Racing take charge on the front – aided by the sprint teams – as another small break was given license to attack.

Maxim Belkov (Katusha) – part of the race-winning stage one break – was up the road, while Pieter Serry (Etixx-QuickStep) and Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana) completed the move.

Serry’s presence meant Etixx-QuickStep didn’t have to do any chasing, with Lampre-Merida and Movistar taking the initiative instead.

Movistar chased hard just as the gap looked to be growing out of control and that ensured the three leaders were kept comfortably in check.

Tleubayev was the first to crack, the heat taking its toll as he returned to the bunch, with Belkov and Serry steadily losing their advantage.

Serry upped the pace with 15km to go, by which point the lead had been cut to just 30 seconds by the efforts of the Movistar team.

Movistar’s efforts also resulted in Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) losing contact with the back of the bunch as his Tour Down Under struggles continued. In fairness to the German, however, he had appeared on the front of the bunch earlier in the day in support of Tom Dumoulin’s overall bid and is likely to bounce back for the flat stage six circuit.

With Kittel out of the running, Movistar continued to chase hard with stage two winner Juan Jose Lobato their chief hope for the stage.

Kennaugh, despite his efforts in the early break, also showed himself on the front as Team Sky ensured Richie Porte was kept in a good position as the peloton closed in on the two front riders under the 10km to go banner.

The catch was made within a kilometre but Lars Boom and Luis Leon Sanchez (both Astana) quickly escaped the clutches of the bunch on the front.

Boom’s efforts were enough to see Sanchez open up a small gap with Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar) on his wheel as the Dutchman sat back up again.

With both riders handily-placed overall the chase behind was furious, and the attack ultimately proved fruitless as the sprint trains began to form in the bunch.

A big turn by Swiss champion Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) put more hurt on at the front, with riders being spilled out of the back – though the GC men kept a close eye on each other.

No team was able to take control on the front, despite several showing themselves as they passed under the flamme rouge.

Wouter Wippert (Drapac) and Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep) looked well placed for the sprint, but it was Von Hoff who timed his sprint to perfection after a lead-out from Bobridge, holding Impey to take the victory.

A big crash, caught by the on-board camera of Jeremy Roy (FDJ.fr), marred the run-in but the chief GC contenders all stayed safe – despite a minor tumble for Porte – to ensure the battle for the ochre jersey will be well and truly on when they climb Willunga Hill on Saturday.

Tour Down Under 2015: stage four – result

1) Steele von Hoff (AUS) – UniSA-Australia – 3.24.28hrs
2) Daryl Impey (RSA) – Orica-GreenEDGE – ST
3) Wouter Wippert (NED) – Drapac
4) Heinrich Haussler (AUS) – IAM Cycling
5) Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale
6) Niccolo Bonifazio (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
7) Rudiger Selig (GER) – Katusha
8) Gianni Meersman (BEL) – Etixx-QuickStep
9) Eugenio Alafaci (ITA) – Trek Factory Racing
10) Koen de Kort (NED) – Giant-Alpecin

General classification

1) Rohan Dennis (AUS) – BMC Racing – 13.41.34hrs
2) Cadel Evans (AUS) – BMC Racing +7”
3) Tom Dumoulin (NED) – Giant-Alpecin +9”
4) Daryl Impey (RSA) – Orica-GreenEDGE +13”
5) Richie Porte (AUS) – Team Sky +15”
6) Michael Rogers (AUS) – Tinkoff-Saxo – ST
7) Jack Haig (AUS) – UniSA-Australia
8) Ruben Fernandez (ESP) – Movistar
9) Maxime Bouet (FRA) – Etixx-QuickStep
10) Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale