Casper van Uden sprints to victory in unusual TT helmet on Giro d'Italia stage 4

Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL) powered to an unexpected victory on stage four of the Giro d’Italia, beating the likes of Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij and Kaden Groves in a bunch kick in Lecce.

The victory was Van Uden’s first at WorldTour level, and hugely significant in his team’s battle against relegation from cycling’s top level. The Dutchman, along with his teammates, also wore a time trial helmet during the 189 kilometre stage, giving him an edge in the dash for the line. Kooij took second behind his fellow countryman, with Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling) rounding out the podium.

"I didn’t do it alone, we did it with the whole team," Van Uden said afterwards as he paid tribute to his teammates. "All the boys and all the staff did super work. I didn’t have to take any wind until around 200 metres to go, I knew I had a good long sprint so I just went for it and hoped for the best.

"We did a good job for the whole season already with our leadouts, including at the Tour of Turkey last week when the boys did a real good job. I knew I just had to follow Bram [Welten] and the boys and I’m really happy I could give them all something back."

"I don’t think it was a surprise [victory]," he added. "The boys all really believe in me but sometimes I have to find that belief in myself a little bit. I think this will help, and everyone from the team did a really good job helping me to believe in myself which paid off."

Pedersen’s fourth-placed finish meant that he kept hold of the race leader’s pink jersey by seven seconds ahead of Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

How it happened

As the race moved back to Italy after the start in Albania, stage four was always set to be a transitional day for the peloton and one for the sprinters. A relatively flat 189 kilometres of racing between Alberobello and Lecce were on the menu.

Much of the day was a relatively subdued affair with just one rider, Fran Muñoz (Polti-VisitMalta), given licence to get up the road in a one man breakaway and enjoy his moment in the spotlight in front of the Italian Tifosi and global television cameras.

At one point, the lone leader’s time gap pushed out to more than four minutes as much of the peloton looked to keep the tempo down ahead of what was anticipated to be a frenetic finale. With just over 50 kilometres complete, a small crash in the main field took out several riders. Race leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was one of the riders affected, along with Picnic-PostNL’s Romain Bardet. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Giulio Ciccone, Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek teammate were also both reportedly brought down in the incident.

With 56 kilometres left to race, it was all over for Muñoz as he was reeled back in by the chasing pack, led by Visma-Lease a Bike and Trek as they started preparations for the inevitable sprint finish to come. Muñoz was caught at the second intermediate sprint point in which Kooij took the maximum 12 points on offer ahead of Pedersen. Once the Spaniard was back in the bunch, the peloton looked to get organised ahead of entering the finishing circuit on the course within the finishing town which came with 24 kilometres of racing left.

Another crash occurred once the riders were into the finishing circuit, taking out Soren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek), a key leadout man for Pedersen, amongst others. Alpecin-Deceuninck and Ineos Grenadiers led the peloton into the final lap with Josh Tarling expertly keeping Egan Bernal out of trouble.

Going into the final kilometre, Visma and Alpecin appeared to have the edge as the finish appeared. But it was not to be for either team. Wearing time trial helmets, an unusual tactic in a road stage, Picnic PostNL came from nowhere to set up Casper van Uden for a hugely significant stage win for the Dutch squad.

Results

Giro d'Italia stage four: Alberobello > Lecce (189km)

1. Casper van Uden (Ned) Picnic PostNL, in 4:02:21
2. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike,
3. Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling,
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek,
5. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck,
6. Sam Bennett (Ire) Decathlon Ag"R La Mondiale,
7. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step,
8. Ben Turner (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers,
9. Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Q36.5 Pro Cycling,
10. Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane, all same time

General classification after stage four

1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 11:44:31
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +9s
3. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +14s
4. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +21s
5. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +22s
6. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +25s
7. Max Poole (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +33s
8. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious, +34s
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, +36s
10. Guido Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +40s