Giro d’Italia Stage 4: Kämna Triumphs on Etna, JP López into Pink

The climb to Mount Etna produced plenty of fireworks among a battle of escapees who dueled up the slopes of the smoky volcano, ending in victory for Lennard Kämna of Bora, ahead of Juan Pedro Lopez of Trek who moved into the overall lead after four stages of the Giro d’Italia. The pair reeled in Stefano Oldani of Aplecin Fenix, and held off Rein Taaramäe and another chase group, for the win.

Among the favorites group, there was no attacking, in keeping with past Etna stages, but there was a high pace set by INEOS which saw Tom Dumoulin of Jumbo-Visma fade and lose over six minutes to his rivals. Astana lost Miguel Ángel López, who dropped out with pain in his hip, and watched former winner Vincenzo Nibali ship two minutes to the favorites. Overnight leader Mathieu van der Poel did not defend the maglia rosa, with this stage being well outside his skillset, and López now leads the race over Kämna by 39 seconds and by two minutes to most of the favorites. A climber himself, López could enjoy a long run in pink if he and Trek are dedicated to doing so.

Results:

1. KÄMNA Lennard, BORA - hansgrohe
2. LÓPEZ Juan Pedro, Trek - Segafredo
3. TAARAMÄE Rein, Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux, 0:34
4. MONIQUET Sylvain, Lotto Soudal, 2:12
5. VANSEVENANT Mauri, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
6. LEEMREIZE Gijs, Jumbo-Visma, 2:31
7. CARAPAZ Richard, INEOS Grenadiers, 2:37
8. BARDET Romain, Team DSM
9. BILBAO Pello, Bahrain - Victorious
10. ALMEIDA João, UAE Team Emirates
11. LANDA Mikel, Bahrain - Victorious
12. VALVERDE Alejandro, Movistar Team
13. CICCONE Giulio, Trek - Segafredo
14. ARENSMAN Thymen, Team DSM
15. HINDLEY Jai, BORA - hansgrohe
16. PORTE Richie, INEOS Grenadiers
17. KELDERMAN Wilco, BORA - hansgrohe
18. HAMILTON Lucas, Team BikeExchange - Jayco
19. SOSA Iván Ramiro, Movistar Team
20. BUITRAGO Santiago, Bahrain - Victorious, all s.t.

GC:

1. LÓPEZ
2. KÄMNA, at 0:39
3. TAARAMÄE, at 0:58
4. YATES Simon, Team BikeExchange - Jayco, at 1:42
5. VANSEVENANT Mauri, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl , at 1:47

KOM:

1- KÄMNA, 40 points

2- LÓPEZ, 18

3- TAARAMÄE, 12

Points:

1. VAN DER POEL Mathieu, Alpecin-Fenix, 62 points
2. GIRMAY Biniam, Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux, 55
3. CAVENDISH Mark, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team, 53
4. DÉMARE Arnaud, Groupama - FDJ, 44
5. GAVIRIA Fernando, UAE Team Emirates, 32

Young Rider:

1. LÓPEZ
2. VANSEVENANT, at 1:47
3. ALMEIDA, at 2:00
4. ARENSMAN, at 2:15
5. BUITRAGO, at 2:18

Avola - Etna 172 km

Well, as usually the Giro does not mess around. Welcome to some serious climbing.

Expected finish: 16:55 - 17:35 CEST

Molten lava of the Day: Simon Yates

Etna is usually underwhelming but Yates looks on good enough form to punch away for the stage win in the finale. The Maglia Rosa will likely fall to him either way so he may as well go for the win.

Official site , Startlist