07/05/2024

Jonathan Milan wins incredibly fast stage 4 sprint at Giro d'Italia as late attack from Filippo Ganna almost steals victory

Stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia once again delivered a thrilling finale. Filippo Ganna launched a brilliant attack that almost succeeded; but it was a day for the sprinters and Jonathan Milan won this time around ahead of Kaden Groves.

The day of racing began with a breakaway of four riders including a wildcard: Filippo Ganna. However after seeing hot pursuit from the peloton the Italian dropped back and three riders remained in front: Lilian Calmejane, Stefan De Bod and Francisco Muñoz.

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The trio rode well together and kept a stable gap throughout the day, whilst Lidl-Trek and Team Visma | Lease a Bike put in the main efforts to keep the breakaway in check. In the main climb of the day the likes of Fabio Jakobsen and Tim Merlier were briefly distanced - the Dutchman suffering the most, but eventually both returned to the peloton.

In the two long descents the day had to offer the rain did quite a lot of damage. First, a mass crash involving Ben O'Connor, Biniam Girmay and Einer Rubio among others. A few kilometers later Girmay abandoned after suffering a second fall. The peloton left the final descent split into several groups, but ultimately they would connect.

Cian Uijtdebroeks took a second in bonus on the final intermediate sprint as Calmejane dropped back to the peloton, leaving two riders in the head of the race. As the pace increased throughout the last hour of the race the escapees were caught with just over 4 kilometers to go.

The famous Capo Mele was about to start and right in the bottom Filippo Ganna launched a deadly acceleration. The Italian put the pressure on the peloton, with the likes of Danny van Poppel, Andreas Pasqualon and Giulio Pellizzari tried to bridge the gap but could not. The peloton was just a few seconds behind Ganna at the summit, and the catch was made inside the final meters of the stage already.

Lidl-Trek led out the sprint, but Christiphe Laporte surged with Olav Kooj in the final meters. In a head-to-head however Milan took a strong win, beating Kaden Groves and Phil Bauhaus to the line.