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2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 4: Davide Formolo wins a wild day, Clarke keeps the pink with Orica

Davide Formolo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAd4UFD6mKo

The future of Italian cycling and Cannondale-Garmin was revealed on Tuesday’s fourth stage of the 2015 Giro d’Italia as Davide Formolo won a wild, wooly day that featured a fractious breakaway and a rampant Astana. The 22-year-old, in his first Grand Tour, took the flowers but Simon Clarke (Australia) kept the pink jersey with Orica-GreenEdge after coming runner-up.

Tuesday’s route from Chiavari and La Spezia continued the south-southeast tendency of the race while taking on three Cat. 3 climbs spread over 150-km, with the latter two in the final 55-km.

The action at the start was frenetic, with multiple breaks that swelled and shrank. A small escape made it up and over the first Cat. 3 with Euoardo Zardini (Italy/Bardiani-CSF) taking the maximum mountain points, as he did on Monday’s Cat. 3. Right behind Zardini and pals was a large chase group that caught up.

The breakaway was 24-riders strong at first but then shrank by a third to be 17 fugitives. Ryder Hesjedal’s Cannondale-Garmin teammates Tom Danielson (USA) and Formolo were accounted for in the break, as was Clarke, second on GC to Michael Matthews. The chasers were determined to inflate the break numbers anew. Meanwhile the pink jersey and favourites peloton lagged 10-minutes behind. With 80-km remaining and the next Cat. 3 on the horizon, the junction was made, bloating the break to 29.

Even though their man Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) was up the road, Tinkoff-Saxo worked at the head of the pink jersey peloton. On the ascents and descents leading to Cat. 3 number two, the breakaway continued to splinter and re-form with continual attacks.

On the opening slopes of the Cat. 3 Passo del Termine, four escapees led their breakmates with Astana driving the pace of the peloton 7:45 behind. Not surprisingly, the quartet found its numbers growing. Astana’s work made a small selection that distanced the pink jersey and Ryder Hesjedal while isolating Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/Etixx-QuickStep).

Formolo was the first of the escapees over the Passo del Termine. On the plateau before the descent there was another reformation. With 32-km remaining, the gap back to the Astana-driven favourites group was 4:30-minutes; Matthews was 9-minutes back.

The final climb to Biassa was 3.4-km in length with ramps of 14% and peaked 10-km from the finish line–a twisty descent kept the drama high. The dozen riders of the break entered the finishing circuit around La Spezia that contained Biassa with a gap of 2:20. Formolo attacked before the road kicked up.

Astana kept the pedal to the metal and Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) lost his only helper in the favourites group. Then Astana’s leader Fabio Aru (Italy) attacked. Contador and Richie Porte (Australia/Sky) were able to follow but Uran could not. Formolo summited and plummeted with Aru and gang 50-seconds in arrears.

The Aru/Contador/Porte bunch became Formolo’s closest pursuers. The young Italian had 27-seconds with 3.2-km to go. Nail-biting time. But Formolo dug deep and was ecstatic to win the epic stage, and so was runner-up Clarke, who celebrated as well, knowing that pink would stay with Orica and he would be the one who wears it Wednesday. The stage winner is now ninth on GC and sits second in the mountains competition.

Uran lost 42-seconds to his rivals Contador, Aru and Porte.

Wednesday will be the another big GC showdown on the slopes of the long Cat. 2 uphill finish in Abetone.

2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 4

1) Davide Formolo (Italy/Cannondale-Garmin) 3:47:59
2) Simon Clarke (Australia/Orica-GreenEdge) +0:22
3) Yonathan Monsalve (Venezuela/Southeast) s.t.
37) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +5:25
125) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +20:00

2015 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Simon Clarke (Australia/Orica-GreenEdge) 11:54:48
2) Johan Esteban Chaves (Colombia/Orica-GreenEdge) +0:10
3) Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic/Tinkoff-Saxo) +0:17
30) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +6:06
126) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +39:26