Today’s 4th stage of the Giro d’Italia was 150km from Chiavari to La Spezia, and although it was a challenging route, it wasn’t expected to make too much difference to the GC.
Along the way, the riders would tackle three Category 3 climbs, but there was a lot of uncategorised climbing also on narrow roads with some technical descents. They would also have one 17-kilometre lap of a finishing circuit in La Spezia to take in.
Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) went into the stage wearing the maglia rosa, and despite being a decent climber, he wasn’t expected to hold onto the lead.
The stage turned out to be fascinating with a dangerous breakaway gaining a big lead, the peloton behind being blown apart, and some GC contenders struggling.
Here are the highlights:
