Wellens wins as Froome loses more time on Giro uphill finish

Tim Wellens takes a great stage win, but Chris Froome suffered on the ramp to the finish losing a decent chunk of time. This Giro is not going well for the Team Sky leader, already under pressure before the race.

 

Tim Wellens (Lotto-Fix All) has won stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia after an uphill finish in Sicily.

While the finishing incline was a ramp rather than a long climb Chris Froome (Team Sky) lost more time; a not insignificant 21 seconds to be precise.

That continues what has been a very difficult time for him to date at this Giro. Froome would lose 17 seconds to arch rival Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb).

Sam Bennett (Boras-hansgrohe) climbed out of his skin in the final.

He was in the front group and on the front when the sprint for the finish line kicked off, trying to lead out a team mate.

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However, he was empty having put in so much effort to remain with the leaders.

And it was the punchy riders, those who can both climb and sprint, who had more gas in the tank when the sprint opened.

But on the basis of today’s ride, Bennett is in superb form. And he may well feature in some stages later in the race that are not strictly for the sprinters.

Race leader Rohan Dennis has retained his pink jersey with the help of his BMC Racing team, which includes Nicolas Roche.

Wellens won the stage ahead of Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) and Enrico Battaglin (LottoNL-Jumbo).

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Next came Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe); the two general classification contenders finishing on the same time as the winner.

After the top five there was a gap of four seconds before the next man, Roman Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott), led home another group.

Roche was 33rd today; on the same time as Froome. Bennett was 44th some 36 seconds down. Ryan Mullen (Trek-Segafredo) was 156th at 10:52.

 

 

 

Stage 4: Catania-Caltagirone (202k)

1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Fix All 5:17:34
2 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
3 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
4 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:04
7 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
10 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott

 

General Classification

1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 14:23:08
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:01
3 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:17
4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Fix All 0:00:19
5 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:25
6 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:28
7 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
8 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:34
9 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
10 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team

 

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