Enrico Battaglin of the Italian Professional Continental team Bardiani Valvole has won Stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia at Serra San Bruno, beating Fabio Felline of Androni Giocattoli into second place and Movistar's Giovanni Visconti who finished third after a tough finale to the stage, played out in driving rain.
Katusha's Luca Paolini keeps the maglia rosa, but Team Sky's Bradley WIggins lost 19 seconds to him in the finale, and now lies 38 seconds down on the Italian.
Danilo Di Luca of Vini Fantini-Selle d'Italia, winner of the 2007 Giro d'Italia but stripped of his second place in 2009 for doping, had looked a strong contender for the win after attacking with Colombia rider Robinson Chalapud on the final climb of the Croce Ferrata.
The pair overhauled the lone rider in front of them, AG2R's Sylvain Georges, the last man left from the day's break and of the two, Di Luca looked stronger, but not strong enough to prevent being swept up with half a kilometre left.
Today’s stage was long, at 246km, and it packed a punch in the finale with that tough last climb of the Croce Ferrata, whose summit came 6.7km in the rain.
The race had exploded before the riders tackled that ascent, however, with Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali, together with Bradley Wiggins the pre-race favourite, having to chase back on after a puncture just after the top of the penultimate climb.
With his team car not available, the Sicilian had to change wheels with team mate Valerio Agnoli, and then put in a typically expert descent from Vibo Valentia, which had been crested 40km out, to rejoin the GC group.
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9 thoughts on “Giro d’Italia Stage 4: Bardiani Valvole’s Enrico Battaglin wins at Serra San Bruno”
I think that was 19 seconds
I think that was 19 seconds lost to ridding sensibly down wet wet decents. Loose a few seconds to getting down safely or go for it and possibly crash.
Come TT day, it’ll be a different story.
The seconds were lost in the
The seconds were lost in the final run to the finish. Seemed strange and the TTT advantage is gone.
I was surprised to hear that
I was surprised to hear that Brad dropped time. But given the wet conditions I think there were a few riders who held back on the final twists and turns of a wet technical finish. Unfortunately a natural break can occur which the trailing riders are not aware of.
Well done to the lad that won. A tough finish to a technical race.
Cyclingnews is reporting that
Cyclingnews is reporting that he was caught behind a crash and may have his time adjusted.
Haven’t seen today’s stage
Haven’t seen today’s stage yet but after yesterday’s descent and how many riders fell or at least went off road on a dry descent caution may have been a sensible option. Just have to wait and see. 😕
Eurosport is saying that the
Eurosport is saying that the commissars only awarded the same time to the three riders that crashed which seems bizarre given that they reportedly held up the peloton. Hopefully the full info will be released as the story is developed:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/giro-ditalia-victory-battaglin-wiggins-loses-time-154130287.html
if the result gets officially
if the result gets officially adjusted, we’ll update the game of course
it is surprising though that
it is surprising though that Wiggins was left trailing on his own with his helpers Henao and Uran finishing ahead of him. None of the other main contenders finished without a team mate in tow. Lack of concentration maybe?
I’m still being driven mad by
I’m still being driven mad by the poor commentary tbh.