The blue from Lidl-Trek wins the fourth stage in the sprint ahead of Groves and Bauhaus. Also highlighted is Pippo Ganna
Filippo Ganna attacks, Jonathan Milan wins in the sprint launched by Simone Consonni: it’s all for the Italian track Olympians on the Andora stage. On the shore of the Ligurian Sea, at 23 years old, Milan launches himself into a sprint that he cannot fail and makes him take another leap in his growth whose limits are not yet known. Because in the power that he unleashes on the ground there are all the doubts and anger that envelop a sprinter when he fails to impose himself. Fourth stage of the 107th Giro d’Italia, Acqui Terme-Andora, 190 kilometers, 1700 meters of altitude difference. 4 km from the finish line, at the beginning of Capo Mele (one of the symbolic places of the Milan-Sanremo), Ganna attacks. A show, a wonderful harmony. The Piedmontese flies, he still has 7″ with 2 km to go, Pellizzari tries to chase him, but the group is ravenous and superPippo, despite his power, is caught at 500 meters by Simone Consonni, who pilots Milan perfectly. Johnny starts in the lead, long, does not want to remain bottled up, sends back the Dutch Kooij who tries to join him and clearly beats the Australian Kaden Groves, the German Phil Bauhaus, then Koij, Merlier and Ballerini. The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar remains in the pink jersey, with 46″ on the Welshman Geraint Thomas and 47″ on the Colombian Daniel Martinez. Best Italian Lorenzo Fortunato, from Bologna of the Astana team, sixth at 1’07”. After the bitter second place in Fossano, here is the revenge of Milan, the Friulian giant of Lidl-Trek, first in San Salvo exactly one year ago and cycling jersey in the 2023 Giro. Symbol of the new generation of Italian cycling, not only a sprinter but also a protagonist in the great Northern classics (fifth at Ghent-Wevelgem). And an indispensable wagon of the golden quartet on the track at Tokyo 2021: those four knights who will go in search of the second consecutive gold in Paris. Milan wins a Sanremo-style stage, with the last 50 kilometres, from Savona to the finish line, identical to the finale of the Classicissima. With sun and 18 degrees, and lots of people in t-shirts and shorts, some even on the beach.
THE NEWS
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The day was complicated for half the day by the bad weather that the group encountered halfway through the stage on Colle del Melogno. And here begins the ordeal of the Eritrean Biniam Girmay, who crashed twice on the descent from Altare to Cadibona. He falls first with about ten riders (including Ben O’Connor and Matteo Trentin) on the wet descent, then ends up going down alone. Girmay retires and the Giro loses a great character. Filippo Ganna’s fair play is worth mentioning: on the run with three other riders, the group leaves no room for the Piedmontese, with a lead that has never exceeded a minute and a half. So after 28 km of the race, Ganna gets up, greets his breakaway companions one by one and is caught again by the group. At that point the lead of the fugitives increased to almost five minutes. Ganna, congratulations for the nice gesture. The group, which pedals steadily at 60 km per hour on the Aurelia, then resumes the escape of the South African Stefan De Bod (Ef) and the Spaniard Francisco Munoz (Polti-Koneta) in Laigueglia, with 4.5 km to go, at ‘attack of Capo Mele, after 182 in the open: the attack had begun at kilometer 3. Then the fireworks from our Olympians on the track.
THE NEXT STEP
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On the program is Genoa-Lucca, 178 kilometres, three stars of difficulty and 1800 meters of altitude difference. After 62 km you go down the hill from the Bracco pass, then all flat until the classic climb of Montemagno (from Camaiore), one of the cycling gyms in the area. Spectacular finale along the walls of Lucca.
