The Giro d'Italia arrives in Italy, but not mainland yet as beforehand the peloton will be riding through Sicily.
Land of many Italian champions, and land of the most active active volcano in Europe which will be climbed in the fourth stage of the race. 170 kilometers and 3500 meters of climbing, not a brutal day but quite a considerable challenge.
Early on in the day a strong group can go up the road, from the start to kilometer 55 the riders go from sea level to almost 1000 meters in altitude. There is no real ascent, but a combination of false-flat roads will slowly have the riders go up, and then back down again slowly before the final ascent.
Mount Etna. There are many roads up it, but this year the finale will be in the Rifugio Sapienza. A long ascent, the first 13 kilometers will see the riders gain 400 meters in altitude, but that’s a warm-up for the classified ascent.
Stage 4: Avola - Etna-Rifugio Sapienza
From that point onwards the gradients rise up, and the average is of 5.9% for a whole 23.1 kilometers. It’s a long climb, with many switchbacks, and the gradients aren’t overly consistent, with two small flat sections. The final 9 kilometers see the hardest gradients, peaking at 12% around the 9 kilometer to go mark. Much can happen here, although early in the race It may not motivate many to attack the race hard.
Etna-Rifugio Sapienza: 23.1Km; 5.9% average gradient; 12.5 maximum gradient
CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Miguel Ángel López
*** Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz
** Romain Bardet, João Almeida, Mikel Landa
* Pello Bilbao, Wilco Kelderman, Giulio Ciccone, Jai Hindley
Create your Fantasy team for stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia and win 90 euro! Click here to go directly to the game!
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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