Ben Healy very aggressive on Giro | "The legs are where they need to be" | Sticky Bottle

*Ben Healy lit it up off the front again and again on today's stage 4 of Giro d'Italia (Photo: Fabio Ferrari)*

Having started today's stage 4 of Giro d'Italia some 2:04 down on race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), Ireland's Ben Healy clearly believed he would be allowed to get into a breakaway and aim for a stage victory.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider attacked again and again in the opening two hours - the length of time it took the winning move to go in very aggressive racing. Healy surged forward repeatedly and, when he managed to get into small groups off the front, he was often the one pushing on the pace, trying to drag the move up the road.

However, Evenepoel's team was marking many of the attacks and when the successful breakaway eventually went away, it contained seven riders with no chance of even a top 10 finish overall, never mind threatening for race victory. Unfortunately for Healy, despite all his efforts earlier in the day, he missed the move that made it all the way.

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains — *Ben Healy on one of his attacks shortly after the start of the stage today*

Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT — *Ben Healy on one of his attacks shortly after the start of the stage today*

It was allowed to take over five minutes on the 175km road from Venosa to Lago Laceno. And though the escape broke up on the final climb, six of their number made it all the way; Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) proving strongest from it to take the race lead and stage win respectively.

However, Healy said he was happy with his performance and hoped his aggression might combine with better luck on the days ahead so he would be able to break clear and contest for a stage win.

"I gave it a good go, maybe a bit too much," Healy said of his aggression over a long period during the opening half of the stage. "I couldn't get away. It seemed every time I did, someone would chase it down. The legs are where they need to be, I think. And now I've lost some time maybe it'll be a little bit easier to go.

"The body is still pretty good. I hit the final climb and maybe I could have stayed with them (the 25-rider favourites' group). But I'm not here for GC and I put the brakes on and lost as much time as possible. There's a lot of opportunities in this Giro I think, hopefully it will work out in the next couple of weeks."