Primoz Roglic wins the fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico

The first selective finish of this Tirreno-Adriatico went to a Primoz Roglic who surprised the rest of the favorites in a stage that left no differences in the general classification, awaiting tomorrow's mountainous finish in Sassotetto where the race should be decided. Filippo Ganna loses the lead in favor of Lennard Kamna.

Roglic wins the fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico

Interesting finish to the fourth stage of this Tirreno-Adriatico 2023, which otherwise offered less spectacle than one might have expected in advance. We remind you that today's stage, the longest of this edition, with 218 kilometers between Greccio and Tortoreto, already on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, was the first chance for the riders in the general classification to show themselves thanks to a route that included a 4-lap circuit around the arrival town marked by the climb to the village of Tortoreto where the finish was located.

As usual, at the beginning of the stage the protagonism was for a 5-man breakaway, among which Davide Bais sneaked in again looking to reach the final circuit and take some points to consolidate his leadership at the head of the mountains. They would not succeed because the peloton would catch them 60 kilometers from the finish, just at the beginning of the circuit due to the high speed at which the stage was held due to the favorable wind.

The first lap was a tentative one, with the peloton grouped together, and it was on the second lap that the first interesting move came from none other than Julian Alaphilippe, who tried to break the race with 35 kilometers to go. However, the climb was not as hard as the profile suggested and he was quickly caught by an active Adam Yates who was closely marked by Wout Van Aert.

It wasn't all joy for Jumbo-Visma as, despite the Belgian's good feelings, Primoz Roglic didn't appear at the front of a group that managed to catch Alaphilippe just as he crested the climb, which brought calm back to the group.

No movement on the third lap, where the pace of Trek-Segafredo left Tom Pidcock, his teammate Sheffield, also well positioned in the overall after his phenomenal time trial and Primoz Roglic.

It came to the final lap where it was the yellow and black who took the lead of the group to set the pace on the final approach, in an occasion that seemed unique for Wout Van Aert to open his 2023 season's list of victories, especially after the sensations offered by Roglic in the previous laps.

However, a clash between Pidcock and Van Aert when the latter was trying to gain positions in the group, curiously sent two of the most skilled riders in the peloton to the ground and, although without consequences, left Wout Van Aert out of the fight for the stage.

High pace and a lot of vigilance in the final climb that Mathieu Van der Poel started at the front of the peloton but quickly saw that he had no legs to enter the dispute. Biniam Girmay held at first but also ended up giving in to the intensity of the pace while there was just a timid attack that could not open more than a few meters of difference.

In the last kilometer it would be the favorites for the overall who would take the lead of the group, with Enric Mas offering magnificent sensations, responding to an attack by Hugh Carthy with ease on the wheel of Tao Geoghegan and Alaphilippe who held on trying to assert his explosiveness towards the finish line.

However, at first, we did not pay attention to the Jumbo-Visma man who was waiting in the tail. At that moment, Adam Yates started looking for the victory and Primoz Roglic appeared in one of his specialties to follow the same path already marked this season by Pogacar and Vingegaard: win in his first competition of the season, doing so, showing a perfect mastery of the race situation, and making good the trick by demonstrating that the previous laps were more about saving strength than staying on the marked rhythm.

In any case, there are no differences between the riders who have to be in front in tomorrow's final in Sassotetto, the only really selective finish and which should decide the winner of this Tirreno-Adriatico. Lennard Kamna will defend the lead after Filippo Ganna did not resist the pace on the final climb, with a tremendously tight general classification, with the top 10 riders within 30 seconds.

Classification Stage 4

1. Primoz Rogliz (Jumbo-Visma) 5h00’04’’
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) +00’’
3. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +00’’
4. Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) +00’’
5. Tao Geoghegan (INEOS Grenadiers) +00’’
6. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +00’’
7. Victor Lafay (Cofidis) +00’’
8. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +00’’
9. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00’’
10. Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) +00’’

Overall Classification

1. Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) 15h38’46’’
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +06’’
3. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +08’’
4. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +13’’
5. Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) +15’’
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +17’’
7. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +18’’
8. Tao Geoghegan (INEOS Grenadiers) +19’’
9. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) +26’’
10. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +27’’