Ganna overtook the sprinters at the end of the 4th stage of the Giro. Home team Milan won with an extremely fast finish

The 190 kilometer long stage between Acqui Terme and Andorra was undulating in the first half, but it was impossible to prevent a mass finish. Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché Wanty), Stefan De Bod (EF Education-EasyPost) and Francisco Muñoz (Polti-Kometa) started the long escape. The escape was initially provoked by Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), but he soon returned to the main field. Calmejane only had one climbing premium, Colle di Melogno, where he scored nine points and then also returned to the peloton. So only a couple of competitors remained at the front, but they fought until the last kilometers. In the same outing, we followed the woes of Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), who was the only one of the elite sprinters to drop out, and it was clear that he was not among the favorites this time either.

Girmay fell twice and gave up

Rain and wet roads made the day uncomfortable for the racers, which of course led to crashes in the downhills. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché Wanty) got involved in one and had trouble getting back on the bike at all. After changing his machine, he set out to chase down the peloton, but fell a second time when his front wheel slipped. Visibly shaken, Girmay was unable to recover and had to leave his second Giro d’Italia on the fourth day of the race.

Milan saved energy on the speed premiums

The way to the finish line for the competitors was varied by speed premiums, at which, surprisingly, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) did not show up at all. The Italian sprinter learned from the previous stage, in which he won two speed premiums, but he lacked a bit of power for the finishing sprint. He saved energy today and it paid off handsomely in the end.

Ganna attacked Capo Mele

The end of the stage was on roads well known from the Milan-Sanremo classic. On the coast of the Ligurian Sea, the pace of the peloton was very high, the refugees were caught up and after passing the town of Laigueglia, the climb of Capo Mele, also known from the Sanremo monument, stood in the way of the cyclists. With just over four kilometers to go, Filippo Ganna attacked hard. He gained the lead in a long exit, but the Tudor team responded quickly.

Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Andrea Pasqualon (Bahrain Victorious) tried to get to Gann, but were unsuccessful. The best chaser in the world kept a high pace even in the downhill and Lidl-Trek moved to the front of the peloton to catch up with Ganna. Simone Consonni (Gann’s and Milan’s representative colleague from the track races) started at high speed in the descending last kilometer, overtook Gann and sent Jonathan Milan into a sprint. The latter easily dealt with Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease and Bike), who did not take advantage of Christophe Laporte’s excellent work. Milan held off all rivals and claimed the second Giro victory of his career, exactly one year after the first.

“The guys did an amazing job today, it’s a great feeling to win again here at the Giro d’Italia. I really have to thank my teammates. And it’s also a pretty special day because my parents are here, so I’m really happy.” Milan rejoiced.

“I also want to thank the people watching from home who have been really close to me, so thanks to everyone. We saw Ganna really go full throttle on the last climb. We caught him 900 meters from the finish line and in a way we, shall we say, helped. Simone then performed a fantastic lead-out and then I just had to make it to the finish line.”

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) did not have an ideal position this time, he started sprinting too far back, could not maintain the speed and finished fifth. And at the finish he complained about the too dangerous finish of the stage. “I’m glad I’m still alive. We almost went over the fences a kilometer before the finish line. At that high speed, Milan was already invincible. I’m a little disappointed, I could have won, but it was too dangerous. But this is part of my job,” he shrugged shoulders. Milan’s most serious rival was Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who finished second, and third place belongs to Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious). “A very hectic sprint at a very high speed,” assessed Australian Groves on Tuesday’s finish. And he believes that he will still be involved in the fight for the stage victory. “My form is improving and the team is doing a great job for me.

Thanks to the victory, Milan put on the purple jersey of the leader of the points competition, with a total of 113 points, second Merlier 81 points. Nothing important has changed in the overall standings, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) reached the finish line in good order and remains the best climber (the blue jersey in the fifth stage will be continuously carried by the second Calmejane). Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step) remains eighth overall. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) took a second bonus on one speed premium and remained the leader of the under-25 competition.