Giro d’Italia 2024 Stage Report: Day four of the 2024 Giro d’Italia was a little more relaxed than the first three, but there as still the necessary excitement. After the break of the day was reeled in with 5 kilometres to go, Filippo Ganna launched himself in a bid for solo victory. His plan didn’t work and the sprinters shot past the big Italian in sight of the finish line. Jonathan Milan had the fastest legs today, beating Kaden Groves, Phil Bauhaus, Olav Kooij and yesterday’s winner, Tim Merlier.
Stage 4 finale
Jonathan Milan won the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia. The Italian of Lidl-Trek lost out to Tim Merlier on Monday, but he took the win in Andora on Tuesday. Milan held off Kaden Groves and Phil Bauhaus in a high-speed sprint. Filippo Ganna was on his way to victory with a late attack on the Capo Mele, but he was caught before the sprint finish.
The win went to Jonathan Milan
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Stage 4 profile
The stage has quite a flat profile. The ascent to Colle Melogno (8km around 5%), in the central section, is followed by a lengthy descent leading to Savona. From here and until the finish, the route is the same as in Milano-Sanremo. The last 3km are mostly downhill. After cresting Capo Mele, the route descends with easy bends all the way to urban Andora. The last 800m are essentially straight and perfectly flat. The home straight (650m) is on 8m wide tarmac.
Will Pogačar take a day off?
The fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia started without Bram Welten. The dsm-firmenich PostNL rider and important lead-out man for Fabio Jakobsen, had a fever during the night. The ‘break of the day’ escaped very early in the stage.
The jerseys at the start
The group was: Francisco Muñoz (Polti-Kometa), Stefan de Bod (EF Education-EasyPost), Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty) and Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers). With the Italian off the front, the peloton didn’t want to let them go. Soudal Quick-Step took responsibility for Tim Merlier. His teammate Pieter Serry kept the lead at around 1:30.
The fans were out to see the start in Acqui Terme
Ganna could see what was happening and less than 30 kilometres into the attack, he decided to sit up and drop back to the peloton. De Bod, Calmejane and Muñoz decided to push on. When the peloton caught Ganna, the peloton eased off and let the break take more time. With 125 kilometres to go, their lead was almost 5 minutes.
190 kilometres to go and Sanremo style finish
At the first intermediate sprint of the day, in Calizzano, Muñoz was the first across the line in an uncontested sprint. In the peloton it was a tight sprint, won by Kaden Groves, ahead of Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay. Jonathan Milan didn’t take part. The Italian wasn’t interested, unlike the first days, Merlier added points to his purple jersey total.
The break of the day – Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty), Stefan De Bod (EF Education-EasyPost) and Francisco Munoz (Polti Kometa), Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) was there at first
From the intermediate sprint in Calizzano, the race went straight into the only categorised climb of the day: the Colle delle Melogno. On this 9 kilometre climb, at more than 4%, Visma | Lease a Bike decided to shake things up a bit. Jan Tratnik increased the pace considerably and some riders couldn’t hang on. The first to be dropped was Fabio Jakobsen. The dsm-firmenich PostNL sprinter was helped by two teammates. Fernando Gaviria also had some trouble.
Tim Merlier will be looking for more points today
The Colombian managed to return to the peloton with the help of Pelayo Sánchez, but the Jacobsen group was further adrift. At the top of the Colle delle Melogno, the Dutchman was 1:30 behind the peloton, which was still pushing hard. The difference to the leading group decreased, but Calmejane was the first over the summit of the climb, taking 9 points in the KOM classification.
The break wasn’t given too much advantage
Calmejane then sat up from the leading group and was caught by the peloton. Due to a crash 70 kilometres from the finish, the peloton was split into several parts. Matteo Trentin, Ben O’Connor, Damien Touzé and Biniam Girmay and others, crashed in the wet and slippy conditions. All the riders were able to continue, but Girmay was shaken by the fall.
A big pile-up in the peloton saw Biniam Girmay come off the worst
The Intermarché-Wanty rider, who finished 3rd on Monday, was at the side of the road for a while, but he eventually got back on his bike. As he was trying to get back to the peloton, he was going a little too fast in a bend and slid to the ground at high speed. This was the end of his Giro, as he couldn’t remount.
Just like Milano-Sanremo
Due to the crash, the peloton had split, but the race soon got back together. The riders who had fallen managed to return. As did Jakobsen, who had reconnected with the back of the peloton before the crash. After the merger, Visma | Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step took on the work in the peloton. Muñoz and De Bod were still holding a slim advantage.
The break pushed on without Lilian Calmejane – leaving Stefan De Bod and Francisco Munoz to be caught 5km from the finish
With 30 kilometres to go, their lead was still 1:30. The sprinter’s teams now lifted the pace and started to pull the leaders in. A regroupment came just under 5 kilometres from the finish, just before hitting the Capo Mele. This was the signal for Ganna to give it ‘full gas’. The Italian immediately opened up a good gap and started the descent with a lead.
Filippo Ganna made a brave attack in the last 5K
Some riders tried to jump across to Ganna, but the fast-man from Verbania was flying. A well-organised chase started behind Ganna, and he was caught in the last kilometre and the stage would go to the sprinters. With a very good lead-out, Simone Consonni put his sprint-leader, Jonathan Milan, in an ideal position.
The UAE Team Emirates were keeping the pink jersey safe on the run in to Andora
Milan was able to complete his team’s work, and he crossed the line ahead of Kaden Groves and Phil Bauhaus in a high-speed sprint. Olav Kooij was also amongst the action, but didn’t have the speed and had to settle for fourth place. Monday’s stage winner, Merlier, finished fifth.
The finish line didn’t come soon enough for Ganna
Stage winner and points leader, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek): “I’m full of emotion again, like one year ago when I took my first Giro d’Italia win because my team has done such an amazing job and my family is here to see me. Our teammate from the Italian track team, Filippo Ganna made it hard for us but the work Simone Consonni did in the last 900 metres leaves me speechless.”
Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was the fastest in a chaotic final
Overall leader, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “It was a relatively calm day, especially because the team did a good job. They kept me safe at the front in all parts of the race, and well entertained too. It was a good day for us. Molano fell and had a bike change in the last 15 kilometres. It is difficult to get back on roads like this, especially if you don’t have a team around you. It’s a tough Giro for him, but he’s enjoying it. He will still try to win his stage. It would be too dangerous, even if Molano had fully returned. At the top of Capo Mele I retreated and looked at the chaos before me.”
Milan also took the lead in the points competition
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Giro d’Italia Stage 4 Result:
1. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek in 4:16:03
2. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
3. Phil Bauhaus Bahrain-Victorious
4. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
5. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
6. Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
7. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar
8. Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizané
9. Madis Mihkels (Est) Intermarché-Wanty
10. Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Polti Kometa.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 4:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 15:19:05
2. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:46
3. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:47
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:55
5. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar at 0:56
6. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan at 1:07
7. Juan Pedro López (Spa) Lidl-Trek at 1:11
8. Jan Hirt (CZ) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:13
9. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan at 1:26
10. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
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