The stage was 200km in length and reminded me a little bit of a mini Milan-San Remo what with those tough little hills on the run-in before a fast descent into the finishing town of Praia a Mare on the coast, and it didn't disappoint.
As usual the early break went clear and, as usual, they were swept up when the days racing reached the business end of the stage, but it only resulted in more attacks going with riders conscious of the kind of run in and aware that the sprinters teams would not be the ones in pursuit. Indeed, Marcel Kittel in the pink jersey was having a rough go of it. Dropped at one stage he got back on but would eventually lose contact on the final climbs and roll into Praia a Mare 8min 10sec down, and well out of pink. Still, he got to enjoy it for one day on the roads of Italy, the first time he has rode the Giro in its home country despite four career stage wins to his name.
One of the breaks that did go clear contained Lampre's Valerio Conti, and Alessandro De Marchi of BMC. Their lead was fleeting and soon a larger group bridged across that also included his team-mate Diego Ulissi. That resulted in Conti setting a searing pace to hold off the peloton before moving over on the final hill Via del Fontino with its 18% gradient for Ulissi to attack. The Italian led over the top and it was then about holding off a vastly reduced group of GC contenders who had been forced onto the offensive when Michele Scarponi attacked.
He did and he took the win by 5sec, his third Giro with a stage win. The result moved him up into 3rd overall but it was Tom Dumoulin who led home what was left of the main bunch who moved into pink with a healthy 20sec to his name. If Dumoulin can hang tough on the summit finish on stage six and with Sunday's 40.5km individual time-trial to come, he stands a great chance of taking a good two minutes lead into the second rest day. And that will only draw comparisons to his 2015 Vuelta bid and a debate as to whether he can do it again and perhaps hang on a few days longer?
One man who had hopes of a strong showing in this Giro who now finds himself on the back foot is 2012 champion, Ryder Hesjedal. The big Canadian once again found himself losing time (37sec to the Nibali group today) in the first week and will once again have to play catch up. Of course, it's easy for me to sit in the arm chair in front of the TV, or the desk chair in front of the computer as it is for the 2016 Giro d'Italia (thanks for nothing Sportsnet Canada), but for someone so strong in the later stages of Grand Tours, it's a shame to see him cough up time in the early going. I've yet to find out whether it was a form issue and he was merely dropped on the final climb or whether he lost contact by riding near the back of the peloton as he is often apt to do.
Tomorrow's stage is likely to suit the sprinters so I'd expect to see Kittel near the front again, vying for his first Giro stage win in Italy. As for Dumoulin and his fellow rivals, they'll just look to stay out of trouble until the next day when some serious climbing resumes and we get the first summit finish of this years race.
2016 Giro d'Italia, stage 4 result:
| 1. Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) 2. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) 3. Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) 4. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 5. Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx - Quick Step) 6. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) --- 20. Mikel Landa (Sky) 42. Ryder Hesjedal (Trek-Segafredo) |
in 4h46'51"
@ 5" s.t. @ 6" all s.t. --- @ 6" @ 43" |
General classification after stage 4:
| 1. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) 2. Bob Jungels (Etixx - Quick Step) 3. Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) 4. Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) 5. Georg Preidler (Giant-Alpecin) 6. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) |
in 14h 00' 09"
@ 20" s.t. @ 24" s.t. @ 26" |
