By Shane Stokes in Monteverginie
Stage four was characterised by several crashes, with riders such as world champion Paolo Bettini ending up on the floor. One of the most unlucky was young Irishman Nicolas Roche, who fell not once, but twice during the stage. He came down with Axel Merckx and several others with some 25 kilometres remaining, then tumbled again very soon afterwards. After a fruitless chase towards the final climb, he ended up finishing in a large group 14 minutes and two seconds behind stage winner Danilo Di Luca, placing 167th.
"I actually crashed twice in 500 metres," he told Cyclingnews after the stage. "A few riders fell with 25 kilometres to go. I came down then, got up and sprinted off [in pursuit of the bunch] after the mechanic changed my wheel. I was looking down at my bike to make sure it was okay and the guy in front of me slammed his brakes and I went straight up on the back of him. I did a somersault. My elbow is a bit sore but nothing is broken, just swollen. I should be okay to start tomorrow.
"It was impossible to get back to the bunch after two crashes. It took ages for me to catch up with the gruppetto on the climb."
