2019 Giro D’Italia Stage 4 Recap & Results

It was a wild day for the general classification at the Giro d’Italia today thanks to a large crash with 6km remaining on Stage 4. The crash split the peloton and left 2017 Giro champion Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) injured, by the time he crossed the line he was down four minutes on race leader  Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).

Dumoulin crossed the line surrounded by teammates cradling his left arm while blood poured down his left leg from a gash on his knee (clear chainring mark). He finished, but any hopes for the GC are already gone.

“[Salvatore] Puccio from Ineos crashed, I think he touched a wheel or something and he took me and Izaguirre with him,” Dumoulin said. “I was in the front of the bunch and just couldn’t avoid it. There are no fractures which is good, but my knee is very swollen. I wasn’t able to push any power in the last few kilometres so I don’t know how I will be tomorrow. The GC is for sure gone.”

The Katusha-Alpecin team was harshly impacted by the crash. Four Katusha riders went down; Dani Navarro had to abandon with a broken clavicle & three ribs, Marco Holler, Reto Hollenstein and Kuznetsov Viacheslav all were able to finish the stage.

The Finish

Thanks to the crash at 6km remaining, the peloton was greatly reduced.  Movistar’s Richard Carapaz was one of the lucky riders uninvolved in the crash and took the opportunity to launch a solo attack that stuck. He was able to just barely hold off a very hard-charging Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) on an uphill finish to win Stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia.

“I didn’t expect to win today,” Carapaz said. “It was a long stage with some hills towards the end. Our plan was just to protect Mikel Landa to not lose time, but a crash at the end changed everything. I was up against sprinters for the stage win so I had to anticipate their action. The moment I chose to attack was perfect.”

Ewan, missing another of the three sprint opportunities so far this year, expressed frustration:

“I saw Carapaz go at 500 metres from the line but at first, it was Team UAE that set the pace,” Ewan said. “With 300 metres to go I launched my sprint but eventually, I wasn’t able to pass him. Today I once again proved that such finishes really suit me. As a sprinter, it is really hard to battle against better climbers like Ulissi, Roglic, and Carapaz. Of course, I am disappointed because you not often get a chance to win a Grand Tour stage. Sunday I finished third, today second. Tomorrow, there’s a flat stage and I am convinced that I can once again battle for victory. It is only a pity that I wasn’t able to seize this opportunity.”

Roglic survived the day in prime position and crossed the line two seconds behind Carapaz. His notable GC contenders (sans Dumoulin); Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) gave up 16 seconds to Roglic. Yates stays at second overall, now at 35 seconds.

Molano pulled from Giro

Juan Molano was pulled from the Giro d’Italia by his team UAE Team Emirates for “unusual physiological results.”

UAE Team Emirates management sent him home prior to the start of Stage 4 issuing a statement that Molano had produced unusual results in tests “performed under the team’s strict and sophisticated internal monitoring system.”

Giro d’Italia Stage 4 Results

1. Richard Carapaz (ECU/Movistar) 5:58:17

2. Caleb Ewan (AUS/LOT) …

3. Diego Ulissi (ITA/UAE) …

4. Pascal Ackermann (GER/BOR) at 2 sec.

5. Florian Senechal (FRA/DEC) …

6. Primoz Roglic (SLO/JUM) …

7. Valerio Conti (ITA/UAE) 14 sec.

8. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL/AST) 18 sec.

9. Arnaud Demare (FRA/FDJ) …

10. Simon Yates (GBR/MIT) …

Giro d’Italia Overall Standings After Stage 4