The 4th step of Tour of Italy saw the victory this Tuesday of Jonathan Milan, this one signing the second success of his career on his National Tour! In Andora, after 190 kilometers carried out largely in difficult climatic conditions and marked mainly by abandonment following a fall of Biniam Girmay (Eritrea, Intermarché-Wanty), the sprinter of the Lidl-Trek – who took the cyclamen jersey in the points classification – narrowly beat the Australian Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The podium was completed by the German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), while the Dutch Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and the Belgian Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) completed a top 5 which looks great. Although they were able to compete for victory, the sprinters were hot since Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers), who went out alone in the Capo Mele a little earlier, was only caught 500 meters from the line.
The 4th stage in Andora for Jonathan Milan
Tadej Pogacar quiet, Cian Uijtdebroeks gains a place
For the first time since the Great Departure of Giro, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) did not carry out any attacks this Tuesday. Having contented himself with staying warm in the peloton, the Slovenian of course keeps the pink jersey. Only one small change is to be noted in the top 10, the second bonus taken by Cian Uijtdebroeks (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) along the way allowing the Belgian to overtake Einer Rubio (Colombia, Movistar Team) and thus climb to fourth place, 55 seconds behind the race leader.
Summary of the last 110 kilometers
At the foot of the only listed difficulty of the day, the Colle del Melogno (7.5 km at 4.8%), the French Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty), the South African Stefan De Bod (EF Education-EasyPost) and Spanish Francisco Munoz (Team Polti Kometa) are 5 minutes ahead of the peloton. Initially accompanied by Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) – seeing that the peloton did not let the gap exceed 1’30”, the Italian made the decision to wait for the peloton 163 kilometers from the goal, and it was only after that that the breakaway was able to gain ground – the three leading riders remain together this climb, their lead diminishing slightly.
At the top, the right operation is done by Lilian Calmejane who, by taking the lead at the summit and thus scoring 9 points, takes second place in the mountain classification behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at Daniel Felipe Martinez (BORA-hansgrohe) and therefore ensures that he can wear the blue jersey of best climber on Wednesday if the Slovenian remains in pink at the end of this 4th stage. In the peloton, this Colle del Melogno hurts several riders, including two candidates for stage victory, in this case Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Fernando Gaviria (MovistarTeam). Released quite quickly in this climb, the first mentioned, awaited by his teammates Julius van den Berg And Gijs Leemreizegoes to the summit, still 1’35” behind the pack!
