2017 Giro d'Italia Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 of the 2017 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) wins stage four of the Giro d'Italia
Jungels moves into Maglia Rosa
Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) finished on top of Mt. Etna first after spending the majority of the day in a four-man break. Zakarin has attacked in the bunch and broke its hold. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha – Alpecin) took second place, 19 seconds down while Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) took third, 29 seconds in arrears.
The Slovenian was the last rider standing from the original break, and held on to a 20 advantage over the line to add another Giro stage win to his palamares.
“The climb was difficult with a constant headwind, especially after a long break. It was probably the hardest day of my life,” Polanc told reporters after the stage.
It was the first crucial day for GC contenders on the cat. one, 17 km slope up to the summit of the still active volcano that came after 181 kilometers. Tom Dumoulin, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, Geraint Thomas and Tejay van Garderen were among those looking to make a dent in the overall classification.
Before the fireworks on Etna, Eugenio Alafaci (Trek-Segafredo) Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) Pavel Brutt (Gazprom-Rusvelo) were the three riders who joined Polanc on the road.
After the four went up the road, the peloton was quiet, allowing the break a maximum of nine minutes at one point. Quickstep-Floors was in control of the front for race leader Fernando Gaviria as well as GC hopeful Bob Jungels who would later put in a big enough effort on Etna to claim the pink jersey.
With Alafaci, Van Rensburg and eventually Brutt popping off the pace on the early portion of the Etna ascent, Polanc doggedly continued on while behind him, the peloton started ramping up its pace.
Bahrain Merida joined Quickstep at the front with small attacks from Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) and Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) not getting much traction.
The Giro last visited the Etna climb in 2011, when Contador won it. However this time, the route traveled up the other side, a more difficult passage.
Its difficulty caused Gaviria to end his stint in the pink jersey, along with Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora – Hansgrohe), who gave up his white jersey to the Colombian at the end of the stage.
FDJ is leading the field, followed by Movistar.
At 4 km to go the GC contenders continued to ride near the front, but seemed hesitant to go full on allowing Polanc enough time to celebrate his victory.\n
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