Date: Tuesday, May 13
Distance: 189km
Start location: Alberobello
Finish location: Lecce
Start time: 12:55 CEST
Finish time: 17:12 CEST (approx.)
Perhaps not wanting to be upstaged by everything that’s been sampled in Albania the past few days, the Giro d'Italia organisers waste no time in showing off their nation’s unique pleasures following a rest day transfer across the Adriatic Sea back into mainland Italy. Stage four will begin in the small town of Alberobello, famous for its so-called ‘trullo’ buildings; dry stone huts that are shaped strikingly in cone structures.
From there, the peloton will traverse in a south-easterly direction through Apulia towards a final destination of Lecce, which will also be the southernmost point of Italy reached in this year’s edition. Here you’ll find a distinctive straw-coloured architecture formed from so-called ‘Lecce stone’ mined in the quarries of Salento, notable for its pliability. The buildings constructed here during the Baroque era are impressive enough to earn Lecce the nickname ‘Florence of the South’, the highlight being the Basilica of the Holy Cross, where the qualities of Lecce stone are clear through the intricate designs of the many complex figures carved into it.
Given the almost entirely flat parcours of the stage, it’s all but guaranteed to be a bunch sprint that the streets of Lecce will host today; as was the case when the city hosted the opening of the 2003 Giro, in what was, in hindsight, a changing of the guard between two of the sport’s greatest ever sprinters. Adorned in the rainbow stripes as reigning world champion and returning after winning no less than six stages the year before, even at the age of 36, there was no questioning Mario Cipollini’s status as the fastest in the world. Alessandro Petacchi, by contrast, had never won a Giro stage, twice having finished behind ‘Super Mario’ the previous edition. Yet much to Cipollini’s surprise, after his final leadout man delivered him, his rival stormed past him to take victory on the line. That was the first of six stages Petacchi went on to win that Giro, and 19 in the next 3 editions, thereby comprehensively dethroning his compatriot as king of the sprints.
Pure sprinters like these two Italians aren’t in vogue these days, as Grand Tours design fewer and fewer stages to suit them. The succession of straightforward flat stages that used to characterise the first weeks is a thing of the past, replaced instead by the kind of more complicated offerings we’ve seen in Albania over the past few days. But today is a rare concession to pure sprinters, one of only two stages (alongside the finale in Rome) that includes not a single obstacle to concern the fastmen.
Contenders
Mads Pedersen has had every fast finish his way so far this Giro. That's in large part due to his ability to get over the tough climbs that have preceded the flat finishes, and the relentless pace his Lidl-Trek team have set to get rid of the pure sprinters. The route into Lecce, however, will pose a different challenge for the Dane. Pedersen will remain a hot favourite for victory, but the complete lack of climb opens the door for the likes of Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), Sam Bennett (Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale), and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), all of whom can outpace Pedersen on their day.
They won't be the only ones fancying their chances at a major result on this stage either. Young Belgian Matteo Fretin (Cofidis) has been in impressive form this year and could feature, as could Soudal Quick-Step's Paul Magnier, Max Kanter (XDS Astana), and second place on stage three, Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech). Orluis Aular (Movistar) has shown his strength already at this Giro with two third-place finishes in the sprints, so he will hope to go even better in the guaranteed bunch finish here.
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is likely to be riding in support of Kooij on this stage, but the Belgian of course has the ability to contest a sprint like this if given the opportunity.
Prediction
We think Olav Kooij will be able to stop Pedersen's winning streak on the pan-flat stage in Southern Italy.
