Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) powered to victory with one of the longest sprints of the season on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia after a late attack from Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) almost made it to the line in Andora.
Ganna launched at the foot of the Capo Mele with 4km to go, setting off on an individual pursuit to the line, but it was his Italian track teammates Simone Consonni and Milan who worked hardest to chase him down inside the final kilometre before the final sprint.
Milan then launched his sprint when he was overtaken by Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike), leading out Olav Kooij, and seemed to have hit the front too early. But the brutish Italian was able to maintain his power and hold off a charging Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Phil Bauhaus (BahrainVictorious).
This is the Italian sprinter’s second Giro d’Italia stage victory, adding to his win from the 2023 edition, and his points haul on the line moved him into the lead of the maglia ciclamino.
“I have so many emotions now. I said from the beginning we came here with one goal for everyone so today the guys did an amazing job and it was such an amazing sensation to win here again at the Giro d’Italia,” said Milan grinning ear to ear post-race.
“I really have to say thanks always to my teammates. First, they believed in this day, and also, it's special because my parents were here, so I’m really happy about it.”
Ganna’s attack forced the race into a frantic chase and upped the pace significantly on the final downhill run to Andora with fifth-place Tim Merlier stating he was “happy I’m still alive” after the finale which he said was “just really, really hectic and a bit too dangerous”.
But Milan was best positioned by his Lidl-Trek team and avoided any trouble by sprinting from the front and trusting his mightily strong legs in the wind to keep him away.
“We saw Ganna going really full gas in the last climb, we caught him 900 metres to go,” he said. “He also helped us in a way, let's say, and then Simo [Consonni] did just a fantastic lead-out, and I just had to play my cards.”
There was little GC action in the day with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and those looking to challenge him for pink just wanting to stay safe in the finale.
There were issues for Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), who hit the deck on a wet descent but finished well in the bunch without injury, and third-place Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), who suffered a late mechanical, but the Colombian was well within the 3km mark so received the same time as the leader.
The only man to move up in the top five was Cian Uijdtebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike), jumping one spot from fifth to fourth past Einer Rubio (Movistar) thanks to a bonus second gained at an intermediate sprint.
How it unfolded
The longest stage of the Giro d’Italia so far in 2024 saw a hesitant start out of Acqui Terme before Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti Kometa) got the attacks started and formed a breakaway alongside Stefan de Bod (EF Education-EasyPost) and Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty).
Ganna got involved and jumped to the three leaders but after prompting Soudal-QuickStep to ramp up the pace behind and with 163km to go, he said his goodbyes and allowed his fellow escapees to build a gap.
With Ganna back in the peloton, their advantage ballooned out past the five-minute mark and wasn’t really challenged until the race closed in on the first intermediate sprint to Calizzano.
The sprinters got into action with Merlier taking the maximum remaining points behind the break and strengthening his hold on the ciclamino jersey but important to note was Milan saving himself and opting not to sprint for points as he had done yesterday.
But there was no surprise break from the fast men as there was on stage 3, with Visma-Lease a Bike coming to the front through Jan Tratnik and starting to set a tough pace 106km from the line. Kooij was showing his hand and the Slovenian’s pace soon put Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) into difficulty and out the back.
Momentarily, Merlier was even off the back before getting back in on the descent. Jakobsen similarly found his way back to the peloton thanks to work from his team but Visma had forced their rivals to burn a potential match for the finish.
Calmejane dropped back to the peloton after his work was done over the climb as his third day in the break out of four saw him move up to second in the King of the Mountains classification, which he led after stage 1. As the wearer of the maglia rosa Pogačar is the only man ahead of him, the Frenchman will have his second day in the blue jersey tomorrow.
This left Munoz and De Bod out in front to continue the break, but behind them, there was drama with a crash on the long, wet downhill run off the only categorised climb of the day, the Colle del Melogno (7.5 km à 4.8%). Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) went down with several teammates as did Matteo Trentin (Tudor) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).
Girmay looked to have sustained a leg injury before gingerly remounting, but he crashed hard again a few kilometres later onto his other side and unfortunately had to abandon the race.
While the remnants of the crash came back, the peloton headed through Savona and turned right, which put the race onto the traditional Milan-San Remo course heading south down the picturesque Ligurian coast. However, it was without the prospect of the big crescendo to come. Only a chase of the leading duo’s 2-minute advantage and the Capo Mele remained.
Amid the chaos, Uijtdebroeks mopped up the singular bonus second left from the Savona intermediate sprint but there was little more GC action in the day.
Lidl-Trek moved up and took control during much of the flat run towards Andora, navigating many of the tricky roads which we see at La Classicissima in March. GC teams joined them in the effort, knowing how important safety is in a hectic finale.
Muñoz and De Bod’s advantage dipped below one minute inside the final 20km as the pace started to ramp up. Jayco AlUla then took over from Trek alongside a recovered DSM squad.
The gap continued to melt away as the tension rose and sprint teams started swapping over for the lead but Lidl-Trek were the constant until the breakaway was finally done with 4.5km to go at the foot of the final climb.
Ganna didn’t wait long before he exploded off the front in a big attack. The likes of Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Filippo Fiorelli (VF-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) tried to bridge to the Italian, but Ganna was too strong for a solo rider to make the difference.
The Ineos rider crested the climb and started the downhill run to the line but Trek were finally making enough of an impression to reel him, Consonni and Milan reached their compatriot before the sprints were launched and the Lidl-Trek big man paid back his teammates' work throughout the day.
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