Fernando Tercero and Fran Muñoz avoid the cut of a pile-up and Davide Piganzoli minimises the losses to stay in the ‘nero-rosa’
45º Giro d´Italia U23
Stage 4: Chiuro – Chiavenna (101,1 km)
The fourth stage of the Giro U23 took place on Tuesday at an average speed of over 45 km/h, with Canadian Riley Pickrell (Israel Cycling Academy) winning the sprint in a very reduced peloton, just thirty riders, as a result of a big crash in the final part of the day. Both Marcel Camprubí and Andrea Montoli were affected in that incident and Davide Piganzoli was also dropped.
The stage, short, a very favourable profile after the previous day’s beating, saw a fight between a breakaway originally of eight riders (Mattia Petrucci, Lorenzo Milesi, Davide De Pretto, Samuel Watson, Nicolò Buratti, Davide de Cassan and Gil Gelders and Giovanni Bortoluzzi), later seven, after Bortoluzzi dropped off, and a peloton eager for a sprint. The breakaway was finally caught in the final five kilometres.
A large number of riders crashes outside the ‘safety distance’, which led to a large selection in the peloton. Barely thirty riders remained in the vanguard, among them the leader Leo Hayter and as far as the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team is concerned, both Fernando Tercero and Fran Muñoz. The man from La Mancha, 37th and the one from Mataró, 40th.
A little further back, in the line of riders that finished next, and losing a few seconds, Davide Piganzoli retained his lead in the overall ranking of the Italian riders of this edition. A podium finish is always important in a cycling event. Piga arrived with Lenny Martinez, 28 seconds behind.
Damaged by the fall, Marcel Camprubí came in at 7’43” and Andrea Montoli, at 8’53”. “I’m fine, I have a bump on my back, but nothing serious. I was involved in a crash with ten kilometres to go. Above all I’m sad because I couldn’t lend a hand to the team in the last kilometres”, says Andrea Montoli.
The Giro U23 faces a rest day on Wednesday. The caravan, however, moves to the west of the country for the last three stages.
Briton Leo Hayter leads the race by 5’44” over Frenchman Romain Gregoire. After this eventful fourth day, Fernando Tercero is in twelfth place, more than twelve minutes behind the pink jersey. Davide Piganzoli, at 9’18”, is just behind the Spaniard in the classification: 13th. In the ‘classifica generale italiani’ Piganzoli is in the lead with 5’52” over Sergio Meris.
[📷 @giroditaliau23]
