Portal on the crash that took down Dumoulin and more
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Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) gets to the line on stage 4 of the 2019 Giro d'Italia having lost 18 seconds in a crash(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) lost four minutes on stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Richard Carapaz (Movistar) wins stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Caleb Ewan on stage with his bike at the Giro presentation(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) at the stage start(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mauro Vegni - Giro d’Italia race director
"I’m really sorry to see Tom [Dumoulin] crash. We’d brought a lot big names to the Giro d'Italia and we’d already lost [Alejandro] Valverde and [Egan] Bernal before the start. Now after four stages Dumoulin has crashed hard and lost a chunk of time. Let's just hope he can carry on and fight for a stage and perhaps fight back.
"We’re all sad about what has happened. It’s difficult to avoid a lot of the crashes. I’ve seen the video of today’s crash sand it was caused by a moment of distraction, like most crashes, when riders look around and touch wheels."
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) - overall leader
"It was pretty easy for most of the stage but when the race started, it was really nervous. At the Giro d’Italia everything changes every day, and we're just on stage 4. I asked my teammates to protect me and stay safe. They did an amazing job, we have experienced guys and it’s thanks to them that I was with the first guys.
"The Giro is not over until Verona. We all know the history of the race and so you never know what can happen."
Michiel Elijzen - Team Sunweb DS
"I don’t really know what happened. We were behind the crash and he [Dumoulin] told me by radio he needed a new bike and that he had pain in his knee and couldn’t bend it. That’s why he lost four minutes.
"Now he’s going to hospital for an x-ray. Just to check that nothing is broken. After we hope to know more.
"It’s a hard blow. We came to win the Giro but after four stages if you are four minutes from the leader, we’re not happy and Tom is not happy. We just have to wait and see if he can continue in the Giro. Maybe the GC is over but maybe we can try to win a stage. We also have the other team members. We have to stay positive but this is not a good day for us. This is also cycling."
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Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) - crashed and lost 18 seconds
"Everyone was fighting for position at a roundabout with about 6km to go and a rider slid out in front of me. It was nobody's fault, I'm not blaming anybody, it was just fighting for position and these things happen. I got up quickly and had the guys around me to limit the losses. I would've preferred to be in front but it's just one of those things.
"I hit my hip and knee, just my left hand side but I'm ok. We'll see how I am tomorrow, it's always worse then, so we'll see, but the Giro is a long race."
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) - second place
"It’s disappointing to go so close to the stage win and not get it. I did all I could and that’s all I can do.
"I even started sprinting with 300 metres to go. On a hard corner like that, it’s along way out. I couldn’t go from any further out and I was really dying in the end.
"The team did a great job and I was in front of all the crashes. I told them I wanted to be in good position at the bottom of the climb and they did that. I did all I could in the end but it wasn’t enough."
Nicolas Portal – Team Ineos DS
"It's also very difficult for us to see from the car, we didn't have much TV. We ended up in the situation where Tao [Geoghegen-Hart] and Pavel [Sivakov] actually ended up pretty ok on the second group, around 20 seconds more or less, I don't really know the time gap. The most important thing is that they didn't crash, they probably got caught by the crash but it's ok.
"Salvatore [Puccio] was caught in the crash and apparently he was the one that caused the crash and that happens sometimes, unfortunately. It's been really technical the past couple of days, the final 30 or 40 kilometres, town after town after town and so we say, 'it's Italy'. Yesterday was really tricky too and this final chicane in the finish was dodgy, as you say in English. It's a shame, but chapaeu to the guys who survived and chapeau to Roglič for gaining some extra time."
Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) - third place
"We tried to do last two kilometres hard to shake out the sprinters. We did that but then Carapaz jumped us from behind. Then Ewan went and he was strong too. There was not much I could do after that."
Matt White – Mitchelton-Scott DS
"Nobody crashed, and it looked like Simon Yates was in the group at maybe 16 or 17 seconds. It looked like the only GC rider who got through was [Primož] Roglič, unfortunately.
"There were a few pinch points and there are a lot of technical roads coming into Rome that's for sure. There's a surprise around every corner. Like I said we lost a bit of time today but we're in a better place than most GC guys."
