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100th Giro d’Italia Stage 4: Jungels wears pink for second consecutive year

Mike Woods rides in with top GC contenders on the Mount Etna after Jan Polanc the win

May 9, 2017
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A fugitive took the spoils on Sicily’s Mount Etna at the conclusion of Tuesday’s fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia. Slovenian Jan Polanc (UAE-Emirates) was the survivor of a quartet that took off immediately after the start in Cefalu. Bob Jungels (Luxembourg/Quick Step), seventh on the day, wears the pink for the second year in a row. The Luxembourger took the best young rider jersey last year while finishing sixth. Ottawa’s Mike Woods, who finished in Jungels’s group, moves into 22nd in the general classification.

The Day’s Course

After the early first rest day the riders had two big climbs to face on the 181-km route: the 32-km, 4.5% Portella Femmina Morta starting at the 57-km mark, and the first summit finish of the 2017 Giro, the 17.9-km, 6.6% Mount Etna.


The last time the Giro visited Mount Etna in 2011, Alberto Contador beat Vincenzo Nibali and Stefano Garzelli by 50-seconds. The 2011 Giro title is one of the results stripped from Contador after his clenbuterol positive at the 2010 Tour de France.

Tuesday was also the day that the Giro remembered Wouter Weylandt, who died six years ago to the day after a crash in the race.

The Breakaway and the Long Cat. 2

Four riders skipped away and had a 2:00 by the 16-km mark. By the time they hit the Cat. 2 Portella Femmina Morta, they enjoyed a 6:00 gap.

Meanwhile, BMC co-leader Rohan Dennis (Australia), who crashed late on Stage 3 and ended up losing over 5:00 to his rivals, climbed off the bike.
https://twitter.com/BMCProTeam/status/861917149278896128
South African Jacques Janse van Rensburg of Dimension Data was the first to crest the long Cat. 2 climb. On the descent and run-in to Etna, peloton drivers Quick Step started to get help from teams like Orica-Scott, with Svein Tuft, celebrating his 40th birthday, leading the way.

Mount Etna

At the foot of the climb the breakaway was only a duo with 4:20 advantage, and soon after the road tilted up Polanc dropped Janse van Rensburg to carry on solo. Behind in the peloton, a curved confused many riders and there was chaos. Ilnur Zakarin (Russia/Katusha), who lost time on Stage 2 after an untimely mechanical, went down.

Astana’s Paolo Tiralongo, in his last season as a professional, attacked on the lower slopes but couldn’t make his dig stick. Polanc was still 3:30 ahead. Pierre Rolland (France/Cannondale) was the next rider to tear away. With 10-km to go Sky’s co-captain Mikel Landa suffered a cruelly timed mechanical.


Polanc started to sputter. With 5.5-km to go, Rolland was caught and Polanc continued to lose ground. BMC’s workhorses gave way to Bahrain-Merida’s.

The 4-km before the flatter final kilometre was the toughest part of the climb. It was in that section, with 3-km to go, that Nibali attacked into a headwind. Movistar shut him down. Polanc’s lead was 1:06 with 2-km remaining. Then it was Dumoulin’s turn to surge, with Thibaut Pinot and Zakarin joining him. Zakarin then shed the others.

As he pedaled under the red kite, Polanc still had 45-seconds. Zakarin grimaced as he fought to regain lost time, ultimately taking back 16-seconds. All the favourites, even Landa, finished together. Polanc snatched the mountains jersey with the victory as well.

Michael Woods was 17th, one of four Cannondale riders, including Rolland, who finished in the favourites pack. Woods jumped up 45 spots to 22nd.

Wednesday’s last day on Sicily before the race heads to the mainland is one for the sprinters.

2017 Giro d’Italia Stage 4
1) Jan Polanc (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 4:55:58
2) Ilnur Zakarin (Russia/Katusha) +0:19
3) Geraint Thomas (Great Britain/Sky) +0:29
17) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale-Drapac) s.t.


2017 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Bob Jungels (Luxembourg/Quick Step) 19:41:56
2) Geraint Thomas (Great Britain/Sky) +0:06
3) Adam Yates (Great Britain/Orica-Scott) +0:10
22) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale) +1:27

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