AFP: Belgian rider Tim Wellens won the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, the first on Italian soil in this year’s race, while Chris Froome’s hopes of a third straight Grand Tour victory took another hit.
Wellens won a sprint on an uphill finish, holding off Canadian Michael Woods and Italy’s Enrico Battaglin following the 202km ride between Catania and Caltagirone in Sicily.
Australian Rohan Dennis retained the overall leader’s pink jersey after the first of three days on the Mediterranean island, after the race had started in Jerusalem followed by two stages in Israel.
Britain’s four-time Tour de France winner Froome lost up to 20 seconds on his rivals on the final climb.
The race was built around a five-man breakaway — Enrico Barbin, Jacopo Mosca, Quentin Jauregui, Maxim Belkov and Marco Frapporti — who opened up a four-minute lead before being caught 13km from the line and the climb towards Caltagirone.
In the final push, Italy’s Valerio Conti showed his ambitions up front but was reeled in with three kilometres to go.
For 26-year-old Lotto rider Wellens it was a second career win in the Giro two years after his first.
The Belgian has claimed one-day race wins such as the Montreal GP in 2015 and stage races including the Eneco Tour and the Tour of Poland.
Wellens said: “We knew the roads were twisty here in Sicily and there was a little bit of panic in the bunch until the first intermediate sprint. Our plan today was that everyone would ride for me. We saw many comments on the internet saying that I was the favourite. The outcome couldn’t be better. Everyone in the team was helping me. The last pull by Adam Hansen was very strong. Tosh Van der Sande put me in a perfect position 500 metres before the end.
“I passed Enrico Battaglin with 200 metres to go but only after the line did I know I had won the stage. Two years ago, I rode away from the breakaway to enjoy my first Giro d’Italia victory. Today’s win gives me more emotions. It feels better to beat the whole peloton. I’m more relaxed now after this success, which makes things easier for the rest of the Giro, but my team-mates are also capable of winning stages. By now, I know that I’m a rider for Walloon classics and Il Lombardia, one-week stage races and stages in Grand Tours, but GC in Grand Tours isn’t for me.”
“The whole team did a great job today. We took the initiative together with BMC to control the breakaway. We stayed in the front during the whole day, but there was some panic when UAE accelerated and tried to drop some riders. Adam Hansen and Tosh Van der Sande delivered an incredible effort today. The pace was so high that it caused a split in the peloton when we began the final ascent. The team was a great part of the victory today.”
“We came to the Giro to win a stage. That sounds obvious but it is not easy to fulfil those expectations. We can continue the Giro now with a lot less stress, having already won a stage. I am sure other opportunities will follow, not only for me, but also for other guys in the team. But for now, it is nice to have that first stage win secured,” Wellens concluded.
Special Milestone for Dennis
“To get the Maglia Rosa in Israel was one thing. To keep it after the first Italian stage is special,” Dennis commented after the stage. “It’s great for BMC. Crowds were huge today, especially at the start and finish. I didn’t appreciate the amazing atmosphere of Caltagirone fully because I was in so much pain but it’s great to race here. Hopefully I’ll retain the Maglia Rosa for a couple more days. Tomorrow, it can be a similar stage but Etna will be my big test against the GC riders to see where I’m at as a Grand Tour contender.”
“It was a hectic day. There were a lot of corners, and a lot of people on the roads, so it was just about trying to stay out of trouble in the last 10km until the bottom of the climb. It’s a big achievement to keep the Maglia Rosa for another day. Everyone knows that it is pretty common for me to lose a jersey after one day at a Grand Tour and now I have kept it for two days. It’s all thanks to my teammates, I can’t thank them enough,” he concluded.
Woods Ascendant
Michael Woods continues to impress after a recent podium finish in the 2018 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, his first ever in one of the classics.
Battaglin “…just not good enough”
Enrico Battaglin sprinted to the third place in the first Giro stage on Italian soil. The Italian looked strong in the sprint uphill, but he had to tolerate two riders in front of him in the last hundred meters. “I was super close, but it was just not good enough”, he said afterwards.
The Numbers
- It’s the second Giro d’Italia stage victory for Tim Wellens after stage 6 to Roccaraso in 2016. He’s the rider who delivered the last two Belgian stage victories in a total of 161. He was also twice second, on stage 6 to Montecassino and stage 17 to Vittorio Veneto in 2014.
- First podium at the Giro for Michael Woods. His best result so far was fifth, in stage 6 to Terme Luigiane and stage 8 to Peschici last year. Although a Canadian rider has won the Giro overall (Ryder Hesjedal in 2012), no Canadian has yet to win a stage.
- For the third time in five years, the Maglia Rosa is an Australian rider after stage 4. It was Michael Matthews (who also took the lead in stage 2 and retained it till the end of the first week) in 2014 and Simon Clarke in 2015.
Wednesday’s fifth stage will cover 153km between Agrigente and Santa Ninfa.
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