Canada's Derek Gee let out a long sigh of relief after stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico, knowing that he was fortunate the peloton closed the gap to the echelon attacks that lit up the stage south from Umbria into Abruzzo.
Gee missed the first attack on the high plain after the Valico la Crocetta climb and was still chasing when race leader Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) got away in another echelon attack. Gee lost teammates Hugo Houle and Pascal Ackermann during stage 3 and so had limited support in the peloton after the early climb shook out the sprinters and some domestiques.
