Sam Bennett, far left, found himself boxed in and then squeezed at the barriers in the sprint, which was won in some style by Casper van Uden (Photo: Massimo Paolone-La Presse)

Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) nominated today’s Giro d’Italia stage 4 into Lecce as the first chance for the pure sprinters, and he wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately for him, it was the other fast men in the field at the front today duking it out for victory.

Casper van Uden, the 23-year-old Dutchman riding with Team Picnic PostNL, was the surprise winner in a mass bunch sprint. It was his first Grand Tour win, in his debut three-week race, and is also the first time he has won a World Tour race.

Bennett looked for a moment like he may be in the hunt and set to pounce from behind race leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). However, he became badly boxed in; first behind Pedersen and others and then by the barriers when the maglia rosa moved to his right, closing the door on the Irishman.

Moments earlier, Bennett became detached from his final lead-out man, Tord Gudmestad. That occurred in the final kilometre just as Team Picnic PostNL stole the prime real estate on the front of the bunch in a bid to sling shot van Uden to victory.

And though he went very early, van Uden had the speed and strength to hold on, with even race leader, and already double stage winner, Pedersen unable to deal with the winner’s turn of speed.

In the end it was Olav Kooij (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) who pushed van Uden closest, taking 2nd place. However, Kooij’s finishing effort was hampered by the fact his last lead-out man had to close a gap very late when someone let a wheel go.

And when that gap was closed, Visma-Lease a Bike had burnt some matches and also found themselves on the front slightly early, stalling a little and losing the initiative. Van Uden and his team were more decisive, and once the young Dutch rider saw he was close to the front, and in an ideal position, he kicked hard just inside 200m to go and claimed the victory.

After Kooij in the runner-up spot, Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) placed 3rd, followed by Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team), though he was later relegated, bumping Pedersen up to 4th with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 5th and Bennett 6th.

Groves looked the most frustrated at the finish as he found himself boxed in only to dart across the road to his left to create some space. In the end, he simply ran out of road to pass those ahead of him and had to settle for a disappointing result.

Though Bennett will also be disappointed with 6th on the day, he looked like he had more to give today, but for his positioning. One bright spot for him was Gudmestad’s performance. The 24-year-old Norwegian is riding his first Grand Tour but he looks like he has the legs, and the nerve, to deliver Bennett at the finishes on this race.

They appeared to get separated today, with Bennett left to his own devices, even though Gudmestad was at the centre of things; ahead of the Irishman just before the sprint opened. If they can coordinate a little better, and get a bit of luck, a stage victory is definitely within Bennett’s grasp.

Pedersen holds the race lead after today’s 183km stage 4 – the first in Italy after the opening weekend of the race in Albania. The Dane leads by seven seconds from Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), with leader of the young rider classification, 22-year-old Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) 3rd at 14 seconds.

Tomorrow’s stage 5 – some 151km from Ceglie Messapica to Matera – features some short and sharp climbs in the final 35km. Though only one of them is classified – and is a cat 4 at that – they look likely to create problems for at least some of the sprinters.