Froome wins summit finish at Prati di Tivo

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Chris Froome claimed victory on stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico after a startling display of collective strength from his Sky team on the final climb to Prati di Tivo. The British rider’s performance leaves him well-placed in the general classification, four seconds behind new leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

Froome won the stage by accelerating across to a dangerous move featuring Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Mauro Santambrogio (Fantini Vini-Selle Italia) underneath the red kite and then blasting straight past them with a fearsome dig of his own.

The attack had a devastating effect on the already reduced leading group: while Froome took flight to win the stage, the remnants of the group spilled across the line in ones and twos after conceding significant ground over the final 700 metres. Santambrogio limited his losses to just six seconds, but Nibali lost 11 seconds to finish 3rd, Kwiatkowski conceded 13 seconds, Contador and Chris Horner (RadioShack Leopard) coughed up 15 seconds and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) yielded 43.

After Richie Porte’s victory at Paris-Nice on Friday, it was the second time in as many days that a Sky rider had made some hefty – as opposed to marginal – gains in the final kilometre of a summit finish, but the collective might of Sky on the 13.5km that preceded Froome’s attack was perhaps the most striking feature of his win.

“My team did great work. They all helped me to be up there in the finale and fresher than everyone else,” Froome said immediately after crossing the line, acknowledging how his teammates Dario Cataldo, Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran had dictated terms all the way up Prati di Tivo, just as Sky had done at last year’s Tour de France, prompting comparisons with the US Postal Service of Lance Armstrong and the Banesto of Miguel Indurain.

Cataldo, a new signing from Omega Pharma-Quick Step, set the tone for Sky by tapping out a ferocious tempo on the lower half of the snow-banked climb. His long effort reeled in lone escapee Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM) and saw Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Cadel Evans (BMC) all dropped with 7km still to race.

With the lead group down to just a dozen riders, Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) tested the waters with 6km to go in a bid to pick up the bonus seconds on offer at the final intermediate sprint. His acceleration did in Cataldo, but Sergio Henao took over for the Sky train and immediately brought Contador to heel.

When Contador went again with 3km to go, Henao refused to match his acceleration and again gradually dragged Froome and the diminished group of favourites up towards him. Two kilometres from the line, Vincenzo Nibali decided to try his luck and he bridged across to Contador with Santambrogio on his wheel, but again, Sky’s train maintained its tempo as Uran took over from Henao.

Nibali’s forcing meant that the trio had 40 metres in hand on Uran, Froome and Chris Horner approaching the final kilometre, but in a matter of seconds, the stage was turned on its head when Froome launched a fierce attack of his own. He caught Nibali and Contador with 800 metres to go, and then simply blasted past them to claim the stage win.

Surprisingly, Santambrogio was the best of the rest, while Nibali battled gamely to limit his losses. Contador struggled in the final kilometre alongside a steady Horner, while Rodriguez – who had used up a lot of energy to latch back on after being dropped 6km from the top – would ultimately come in 43 seconds down. The damage was even greater for Cadel Evans (BMC) who saw his overall hopes evaporate when he was dropped under Cataldo’s impetus.

“I have a lot of faith in my teammates: Uran, Sergio and Dario Cataldo,” Froome said. “They all did great work today and when they are like that, my job becomes much easier.”

One man who put up fierce resistance to Sky’s forcing was Michal Kwiatkowski. The young Pole was always well-placed behind Froome as the men in black forced the selection, and he gauged his effort well in the final kilometre to ensure that he did enough to take the blue jersey from Mark Cavendish and keep the overall lead in the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team for another day.

The early exchanges

After three days of racing in the rain, the Tirreno-Adriatico riders were pleased to see some blue skies and the occasional burst of sunshine as they rolled out of Narni for the 173km stage.

The only non-starter was Marco Mercato (Vacansoleil-DCM). The early break formed after just two kilometres, with Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana), Anthony Roux (FDJ), Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Francesco Failli (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) quickly opening a gap on the road towards the Rieti and the Abruzzo Apennines.

Failli was in the break on Friday and was clearly keen to take the green king of the mountains jersey from Cesare Benedetti (NetApp-Endura). He was first to the summit of the Forca di Arrone after 31km, with the break extending their lead to six minutes.

The gap touched 6:45 after 40km but began to fall as the stage headed to the mid-way point. Roux won the intermediate sprint in Rocca di Corno, beating Kessiakoff and Failli, with the peloton still in control, some five minutes down. Failli was the first over the summit of the Passo delle Capannelle ahead of Marczynski and Roux, securing more climber's points. However their lead had melted like the snow along the roadside, to just two minutes.

BMC lead the peloton down the fast descent to protect Cadel Evans, as the overall contenders began to position themselves for the final showdown on the 14.5km climb up to the ski resort of Prati di Tivo. The four were still clear as the race route turned right and hit the climb but Failli was the first to be dropped as the peloton began to hunt them down.

The start of the climb saw lots of riders sit up, including Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling) and Andy Schleck (Radioshack-Leopard). For his part, race leader Mark Cavendish had already been dropped on the Capannelle and he was riding a sensible tempo to the finish.

Marczynski was the last to be caught from the break but his lead was just 45 seconds with nine kilometres to go, as Team Sky placed five riders on the front to lead the chase, set a fast tempo and protect Chris Froome. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Eros Capecchi (Movistar) were the early victims of the fast pace. Marczynski was eventually caught with eight kilometres to go and it was time for the showdown between the big-name contenders.