Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia!
Good morning, Matilda here, Cyclingnews' Assistant Features Editor. I'll be taking you through all the action from stage 4.
Impatiently waiting for the stage after a day off? Don't worry, just because racing stopped on Monday didn't mean we did.
We've also got the excellent Larry Warbasse from Tudor Pro Cycling on board as a columnist for this Giro. Here's what he wrote in his travel day dispatches:
My colleague James Moultrie, who is on the ground for the first half of the race, wrote this piece on Jayco AlUla's Paul Double, whose career progression is the definition of 'slow and steady wins the race'.
The key medical update on the travel day came from Mikel Landa, who crashed heavily on stage 1 and suffered a fractured vertebra. It's going to be a long recovery for the rider who is already 35.
Though Mads Pedersen sprinted to two victories in Albania, they weren't really pure sprint days, with some pretty hefty climbs in the finals. Today's stage is definitely one for the pure sprinters, with riders like Olav Kooij, Kaden Groves and Paul Magnier all on the list of possible winners.
Stage 4 starts in Alberobello, which is in the surrounds of Bari, in the southeast of Italy. The town is known for its 'trulli' – white stone hut-like buildings with a cone roof, dating back to the 18th century. Look them up!
In fact, here are the riders heading to sign-on in front of the famous trulli. There are hundreds in the town.
Grand Tours really do allow you to discover things you might never know about otherwise.
"Always keep smiling," Wout van Aert said to the TV cameras at the start.
Here's the official fly-through of the stage coming up today:
Here's a reminder of who is wearing which jerseys today:
Pedersen worked hard on stage 3 to reclaim the pink jersey so he could wear it in a road stage, so there's no surprise that he's gone for all pink today.
"I'm really looking forward to it. It feels like the first stage for us. I didn't have the legs in Albania, so missed both those reduced sprints, so I'm looking forward to getting things started today with a complete, normal bunch sprint," Kaden Groves told the Eurosport cameras at the start.
Neutral start underway
Wout van Aert was almost late to the start and had to join the back of the bunch, oops.
Beautiful scenes as the peloton rolls through Alberobello and the bright white trulli. Lots of bunting and decorations here, too – it's nice to be back in Italy.
"I think always the first bunch sprint in a Grand Tour is quite nervous, until everybody settles in a bit more," Sam Bennett said to Eurosport at the start.
Sam Bennett also said the finish looks more straightforward than it's going to be...
Official start given
Oof, no expected big battle after the flag drop. Just one rider has attacked...
The one rider who has attacked is Francisco Muñoz of Polti VisitMalta.
Mountains jersey wearer Lorenzo Fortunato is just having a chat with the other riders and on the radio to see if he might be allowed to nip up the road to get the KoM points.
Time gap of 1:00
It is a little surprising that literally no one wants to go in the break. There's not a lot to be gained – no jerseys really up for grabs, and the break is nearly guaranteed to be caught – but it's day 1 in Italy and a chance to get your jersey on TV.
Despite being on his own, Muñoz is committed to this. He's settled into time trialing mode and he's building a gap.
Lots of fans out on the roads. Makes a nice change from Albania, where there definitely were fans but it wasn't quite as passionate as Italy.
We're going through Noci, past packed pavements and under pink umbrellas. The Giro is officially Giroing.
Muñoz's lead is up to two minutes now, as the peloton just takes some time to relax. It was a hectic time in Albania, so you can't blame them.
Sounds like all the riders who finished stage 3 also started stage 4 – no DNSs to report and 182 riders in the peloton, only missing Mikel Landa and Geoffrey Bouchard.
A bit about our solo leader Fran Muñoz:
And the Spaniard is still working hard here, extending his lead, which is approaching four minutes now.
The gap just ticked over four minutes, and Muñoz picked up three KoM points at the top of the climb.
The crowds really are HUGE. It's a Tuesday afternoon and a totally innocuous part of the race, but there's no stopping the tifosi.
One from the start. I love these things – my face would be straight in there.
The peloton are on the climb now, and Astana are doing a little bit of work to get Fortunato into position to grab a couple of points.
Not so easy for Fortunato – Sylvain Moniquet, second in the KoM standings, has attacked towards the top of the climb.
Moniquet takes the two points at the top, with Fortunato just behind to pick up one point. There's now nine points between the two riders at the top of the mountains classification, cut from 10. Probably not much to worry about.
Mountains classification
Muñoz's lead is up to five minutes now, and the peloton is settling into control mode.
Happy birthday to the Giro!
There were some murmurs about crosswinds, and it is a bit windy out in southern Italy, but it doesn't look like the conditions will be enough to split up the race. We'll see though!
It's about 21 degrees Celsius out there today, and dry – nice racing weather.
A proper Giro welcome in Noci!
Jacopo Mosca of Lidl-Trek is on the front of the peloton.
The sprint point is approaching, so there's some action and moving in the peloton as riders are interested in getting some points.
Muñoz obviously picks up the maximum 12 points at the sprint but there are 8, 5, 3 and 1 points available for the peloton when they arrive at the sprint in a few minutes.
Reminder that Pedersen leads the points competition at present, with 54 points, ahead of Alessandro Tonelli with 35.
Intermediate Sprint 1 (Polignano a Mare)
That's not going to make any changes on the points classification standings for now, but we can learn a few things about who's targetting that classification.
Visma are helping out at the front of the peloton now. Olav Kooij has had a good season so far with three wins, and he'll be hoping to add a second Giro stage to his palmarès today.
50km complete
Muñoz earlier in the day. This is third time in a break at the Giro.
It's chill vibes in the peloton. Just spotted Tom Pidcock and Max Poole having a chat.
Muñoz's gap is back down to 3:30, with still 130km to go. It's just difficult to keep up a gap and a high pace when the peloton are working. They're not chasing, but the natural pace of 180 riders vs one rider will always lend itself to the bunch.
TV coverage reminding us that Kaden Groves hasn't won for 250 days – last time was at the Vuelta last year.
All pink everything for Mads Pedersen.
Crash
Lots of big riders affected in that crash: Giulio Ciccone, Tom Pidcock, several Lidl-Trek riders.
Not looking good for Q36.5's Nickolas Zukowsky – he's sat on the kerb holding his shoulder, a tell-tale sign of a collarbone break.
The other riders affected are now chasing back on. It was a touch of wheels at the back of the peloton that caused the crash.
Add Romain Bardet, Luke Plapp and Matteo Moschetti to your list of riders affected in that crash.
Abandon: Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5)
It's always a shame to see riders out so early, in such an innocuous crash no less. But even on a calm day like this, a touch of wheels can have some big consequences.
Next point of interest in this race is the brand new Red Bull Kilometre, coming in 14km.
Jens Voigt just spoke to Lidl-Trek DS Kim Andersen in the car, and he said the biggest rival for Pedersen today will be Matteo Moschetti. Hmm, interesting!
Speaking of Moschetti, the Italian – who was involved in the crash – just had a bike change. He's chasing back on.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have been in tight formation all day, protecting Primož Roglič.
Forgot about him for a moment. Muñoz is still out front. Wonder what he's thinking about.
5km to go to the Red Bull Kilometre intermediate sprint in Ostuni.
On TNT Sports, the commentary team are currently discussing the first time Adam Blythe met Sean Kelly, who was topping up his tan at the time. So that's how little there is to talk about in the race.
Latest from Jens Voigt on the motorbike, who's been chatting with Lidl-Trek again: it was a dropped bottle that caused the crash, and all the Lidl-Trek riders are fine.
In this sprint, there's points available of course, but there's also 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available.
Reminder, the gap between Pedersen and Roglič on GC is nine seconds, so even if Roglič took some bonuses here (as he likes to do) it wouldn't change the lead.
RED BULL KILOMETRE (OSTUNI)
The peloton have just started the Red Bull KM.
It's a bit uphill, so some punchy riders are coming to the fore here!
This is much more attacking that your usual intermediate sprint – Red Bull, UAE and Bahrain Victorious all battling.
Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wins the sprint from the bunch, taking 4 bonus seconds, just ahead of Roglič who takes 2 seconds!
Primož Roglič just loves a bonus second.
That sprint and the injection of pace in the bunch has seen Muñoz's lead cut to two and a half minutes.
100km to go
Bahrain and in particular Damiano Caruso seem to want to make this hard, but no other teams are really playing ball.
Things are settling back down a bit – the bunch is back into row formation.
Pidcock is back at the car – seems to be in a happy, chatty mood. Probably not a day for him today however.
Muñoz is still holding onto a two and a half minute lead. Lonely but strong day out for the Spanish rider.
We've also officially passed the halfway mark in the stage.
Steven Kruijswijk is still on the front for Visma. He's been doing a lot of work today.
Lunch time for the peloton who just went through the feed zone.
Average speed so far today is 44.8km/h.
Now everyone is stopping for a nature break.
A lovely shot of the bunch under bright blue skies.
Just heard from Mads Pedersen on the live coverage – he's realistic about his chances in the sprint today. A flat, fast one doesn't suit him as well as a tougher day.
The gap is coming down a little bit again. Peloton aren't exactly charging, but I wouldn't be surprised if Muñoz is getting tired. He's been on his own for over 100km.
One more sprint left today, in just under 20km.
EF Education-EasyPost are joining the line-up in the front of the race here.
Wout van Aert has just stuffed his jersey full of bottles to take back to his teammates. Definition of domestique de luxe.
Muñoz's gap has fallen below a minute now, as the teams are all lined up in colour order in the bunch. Still 64km to go mind you!
Hello to Cyclingnews columnist Larry Warbasse! No doubt thinking what he'll write about next.
Relaxation is definitely over in the peloton. It's tight and tense in the front, and riders are working hard at the back too.
Tudor are really keeping up with their WorldTour rivals here. They're protecting Michael Storer on GC, but Rick Pluimers could be a contender in the sprint too.
Wheel change for Dani Martínez. He should be fine to get back on.
The peloton have Muñoz in their sights now, as his gap dips under 20 seconds.
They'll want to catch Muñoz before the intermediate sprint, as that will leave the maximum points up for grabs for the peloton.
Breakaway caught
A moment of appreciation for the Muñoz. It's not easy to be out there alone, but when your team relies on points and visibility, someone has to do it.
In the bunch, the teams are all lined up for the intermediate sprint
INTERMEDIATE SPRINT 2 (San Pancrazio Salentino)
Pedersen has a decent lead in the sprints competition, but with 50 points available at the line – the first two road stages were only 25 – there is the possibility for some shifts in the classification come the finish, especially now Kooij has 17 points to his name.
The peloton will enter the finishing circuit with 24km to go.
Part of the reason why the riders are so organised so early is because of the circuit – it will be a fight to get into the right position to enter the lap, as it will be more difficult to move up once we're on city roads.
Love this photo taken in Pezze di Greco.
Pink jersey Mads Pedersen is just chasing back onto the bunch right now with a teammate – unsure why, maybe a nature break or a visit to the team car.
It's the GC teams who are currently leading proceedings at the front of the bunch. The sprint teams need to find there way up at some point.
Irish champ Darren Rafferty is giving it a good dig for EF Education-EasyPost.
Issue for Sylvain Moniquet, who takes a bike change – hard moment to have to chase back on.
Oops poor Moniquet has a puncture on his new bike after about 100m of riding!
35km to go. Visma-Lease a Bike are super organised, as are Bahrain Victorious.
Bahrain are protecting the overall interests of Antonio Tiberi – they don't have an obvious top-level sprinter.
On a wide road now, so the peloton is about 12 riders across, but things will narrow again.
Muñoz is up for the combativity prize, up against Roglič and Del Toro. Scandal if he doesn't win, but it's a public vote, and Roglič has many fans...
30km to go
The so-called 3km rule is actually 5km long today, per new, flexible UCI rules.
About 3km from the start of the first of two finishing laps.
Visma have been a well-oiled machine today.
So little room to move in the peloton right now, they're packed in like sardines and going super fast.
Lots of roundabouts, road furniture and other pinchpoints in this run in. It's nervous watching when they're going so fast, but proves why riders want to be at the very front.
Bit of sketchiness as the peloton fanned across the road but there were spectators on the tarmac. Luckily no problems.
We're onto the circuit now. Two laps of 12km to complete.
Bahrain Victorious still dominating things on the front of the bunch. A really good day of racing from them, we'll see if it translates to a result.
Crash
And a weird issue on a roundabout where the road split in the run in, half the peloton went on one side, which led them to the long way round the roundabout.
Kragh Andersen who went down for Lidl-Trek was meant to be Pedersen's final lead-out rider, so they might have to rethink things a bit – once Pedersen gets back up to the front.
20km to go
A lot of riders just fighting to get back on – that crash and roundabout sent a lot of riders backwards.
A bottleneck on the road just strung things out again. This is a tough finale!
Dropped riders are having to navigate the convoy as well, complicating things further.
Lidl-Trek are ominously missing from the front of the peloton – Pedersen knows it's a tough stage to win but he won't want to lose time today, nor capitulate the points jersey.
All of these pinch points, the peloton will have to do them again on the next lap. Will they have learnt? Or will it mean the battles are even fiercer?
Ah Ciccone has been caught out at some point, he's trying to chase back on with a teammate.
Quite a big gap for Ciccone to close...
The peloton have calmed down a little bit here. Possibly just taking a breather before the chaos resumes.
Sounds like it was a mechanical for Ciccone.
And Ciccone has just rejoined the bunch. Phew for Lidl-Trek. For now.
Every time the road widens, the peloton fans across as riders try to move up, but then it narrows again. Just changing constantly.
one lap to go
Pedersen has Vacek with him, but that's all he has to rely on for a lead-out today.
Well, not sure the peloton have learnt much. A lot of riders just went the the long way around the roundabout, again.
10km to go
Still GC teams at the front – Ineos, EF, Tudor.
Alpecin-Deceuninck are lining up properly now, as are Soudal-QuickStep.
These pinchpoints are a bit less disruptive now – the bunch is smaller this time around, and already strung out.
Pedersen has found his way to the front, behind Vacek and Daan Hoole.
Ben Turner is doing a huge, huge job for Ineos Grenadiers on the front here.
The peloton is so strung out - 3km to go!
Egan Bernal on the front! Wow! All for GC protection but what an effort.
The bunch is in one long line as they navigate lots of turns at high pace.
Olav Kooij needs to move up here, Alpecin are looking better than Visma right now.
Three riders still in front of Groves.
Final kilometre
Visma charging up here. Pedersen is back into a good position too.
Picnic-PostNL come into the frame with 500m to go...
Finish
Van Uden wins ahead of Olav Kooij and Maikel Ziljaard.
That's a huge win for Picnic-PostNL in general, but also in the relegation battle.
Pedersen fourth, so he'll safely keep the leader's jersey.
Picnic-PostNL almost came from nowhere in that sprint, but they timed it just right.
What a win!
Apologies, we pulled in the wrong results there. Here are the ones you want.
Results
A surprising result for Maikel Zijlaard in third today as well. That's a big result for Tudor.
Win a stage, do the robot.
This is only a fifth pro win EVER for Casper van Uden, and what a platform to do it on. His first Grand Tour stage win, naturally.
"I didn't do it alone. We did it with the whole team, all the boys here, and all the staff back at HQ as well. They did super work," a humble Van Uden says in the flash interview.
Van Uden is on the podium receiving his medal and of course a gift card to Trenitalia. That's why they want to win stages, for the gift card.
Fifth-placed finisher Max Kanter has been relegated to 103rd – presumably for some deviation or poor action in the sprint.
Despite that hectic finale, it looks like all the GC favourites made it into the front group and finish on the same time.
Pedersen is pulling on his third pink jersey of this race.
Want a quicker recap of the stage than reading back through all these updates?
Here's Van Uden on the podium – what a special moment for the 23-year-old.
Here's Mads Pedersen's assessment of the day. He did well to finish as well as he did after a problem in the final 20km.
Pedersen seemed a little disappointed post-race, despite knowing it was going to be a tough ask for him to win such a pure sprint. But to take fourth after a far-from-ideal lead-out... he probably could have done better on a smoother day.
Still, it's another day in pink for Pedersen.
"It's not looking really good," Lidl-Trek DS Maxime Monfort tells TNT Sports about Soren Kragh Andersen.
Soren Kragh Andersen crossed the line 10 minutes down, only holding his bars with one hand and his left wrist looking painful. Ouch.
Here's the latest overall standings:
One thing to note is that Wout van Aert wasn't really involved deep into the final with Kooij. Edoardo Affini did the final lead-out.
Here's a look ahead to tomorrow's stage. It's a tougher finish than today with a rise in the final.
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