Giro d'Italia 2026 stage four preview: breakaway vs versatile sprinters

Date: Tuesday, May 12
Distance: 138km
Start location: Catanzaro
Finish location: Cosenza
Start time: 12:40 BST / 13:40 CEST / 07:40 EDT
Finish time (approx.): 16:13 BST / 17:13 CEST / 11:13 EDT

After a first rest day spent somewhere between transfer lounges and massage tables, the Giro d’Italia leaves behind three intriguing days in Bulgaria and turns its attention back home, to the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. In theory, the legs should still be fresh, but the peloton carries the residue of the nervous Grande Partenza in the Balkan country, which featured some race-ending crashes for some riders. 

Like Sunday’s stage three, Tuesday’s parcours has one major climb in the middle, up to Cozzo Tunno (14.5km long at 5.9%). However, while most of the top sprinters stayed in contact on the benign slopes on Sunday, stage four’s test is harder and crests with only 45km to the finish, with the majority of that remaining distance being descent. Then there is a challenging finale with four corners in the final kilometre and a cruel 3.7% drag up to the line in Cosenza. So, it’s likely to be a day for the most versatile of sprinters, but there is also a good chance for a strong breakaway to succeed.

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage four profile

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage four profile (RCS)

Contenders

Of the riders hoping to hold onto the peloton on the climb, Corbin Strong (NSN Cycling Team) and his teammate Ethan Vernon are in contention and their team has already shown willingness to control the breakaway to tee-up their fastmen.

Read more: ‘I hope my momentum snowballs into winning a stage’: Could Ethan Vernon be the Giro d’Italia’s new sprint star?

Similarly, Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) – already a podium finisher on stage one – and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) have a history of performing well on this sort of terrain,  although the latter could still be struggling from a crash on the opening day. 

Ben Turner (Netcompany-Ineos) has a powerful kick after a tough day and is in with a good shout of adding to the stage that he won at the Vuelta a España in September. 

It’s likely that the Cozzo Tunno climb is too hard and too close to the finish for the likes of Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), the three fastest finishers on stage three to Sofia. 

However, other riders who have already shown themselves to be capable of competing on a lumpy, technical course. The current pink jersey Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana Team) who won stage two to Veliko Tarnovo / Велико Търново is an obvious example. The Uruguayan rider won the reduced sprint ahead of Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), who are also contenders for stage four. 

The other option to win Tuesday’s stage is to get into the breakaway, although it’s not a tactic many teams have opted for so far in this Giro. We can expect to see the blue jersey holder Diego Pablo Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta) fighting to get up the road for a fourth consecutive stage.

Other than Turner, Netcompany-Ineos have plenty of options from a breakaway or a reduced bunch, including Magnus Sheffield and Filippo Ganna. Also look out for Alec Segaert (Bahrain-Victorious), Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Orluis Aular and Iván García Cortina (Movistar), Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step) and António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Prediction

We think Tobias Lund Andresen will win his first Grand Tour stage from a reduced bunch sprint.