1.50pm: British rider Ian Stannard (ISD) is one of six riders in an escape group on today's fourth stage of the 2009 Giro d'Italia.
Stannard is with Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), Francesco Bellotti (Barloworld), Davide Vigano (Fuji-Servetto), Francesco De Bonis (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni) and Serafin Martinez (Xacobeo-Galicia). The six currently have an advantage over the peloton of around seven minutes.
Today's stage features the first uphill finish of the race as the riders head to San Martino di Castrozza in the Dolomites. Stannard and his breakaway companions will have to build up a significant lead before the final climb to have any chance of stage victory.
Stannard made a breakthrough on the road in 2007, riding the latter part of the season as a staigaire for the T-Mobile team and winning the Milano-Brusetto race. He was also a strong track rider, becoming Under-23 European team pursuit champion in 2006.
More updates and full report later
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Giro d'Italia 2009 links
Stage reports
Stage three: Cavendish loses pink jersey after being caught behind late crash
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Stage two: Petacchi denies Cavendish the stage win
Stage one: Cavendish in pink as Columbia prove their point to Garmin
