Tim Wellens (Lotto Fix All) 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 Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) and Enrico Battaglin (LottoNL-Jumbo) following the 202km ride between Catania and Caltagirone in Sicily.
Rohan Dennis (BMC) retained the overall leader’s pink jersey after the first of three days on the Mediterranean island. Chris Froome lost up to 20 seconds on his rivals on the final climb.
Wednesday’s fifth stage will cover 153km between Agrigente and Santa Ninfa.
:This feels much more special because until the last 150 metres I was not sure of winning, so then when you pass over the finish line, it feels so good,” Wellens said.
“It was turning and twisting all day; it was not so easy. In the end, my teammates took me perfectly to the front. Adam [Hansen] did a really long pull, and then Tosh [Van der Sande] was pulling, and it was splitting behind us. I had to be careful not to go too soon because I knew it as still far out. I had a little advantage and so could start the climb easy, then I went full gas at 200 metres.”
Giro d’Italia 2018 – stage 4 results (Catania – Caltagirone ):
| 1 | Tim Wellens (Lotto Fix All) | 5:17:34 |
| 2 | Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 3 | Enrico Battaglin (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 4 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 5 | Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 6 | Roman Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott) | +04” |
| 7 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 8 | Luis León Sanchez (Astana) | ,, |
| 9 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 10 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 11 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 12 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | ,, |
| 13 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 14 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +10” |
| 15 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | ,, |
| 16 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | ,, |
| 17 | Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 18 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 19 | Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 20 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | ,, |
General classification after stage 4:
| 1 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | 14:23:08 |
| 2 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +01” |
| 3 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +17” |
| 4 | Tim Wellens (Lotto Fix All) | +19” |
| 5 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | +25” |
| 6 | Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) | +28” |
| 7 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 8 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +34” |
| 9 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | +35” |
| 10 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | ,, |
| 11 | Jose Goncalves Katusha-Alpecin) | +36” |
| 12 | Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) | +37” |
| 13 | Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) | +47” |
| 14 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 15 | Tanel Kangert (Astana) | +50” |
| 16 | Georg Preidler (Groupama-FDJ) | +52” |
| 17 | Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) | +53” |
| 18 | Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 19 | Luis León Sanchez (Astana) | +54” |
| 20 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | +55” |
