What a surprise! Casper van Uden blasts to victory in stage 4 of the Giro with a stunning sprint, edging out Kooij and Zijlaard

After Lidl-Trek and Mads Pedersen, along with Joshua Tarling, had dominated the opening weekend in Albania, the peloton transferred to Italy during Monday’s rest day. Tuesday marked the first stage on Italian soil, with the organisers mapping out just under 190 kilometres between Alberobello and Lecce. On paper, it looked tailor-made for the sprinters.

The profile didn’t exactly inspire a rush for the early break. Francisco Muñoz (Polti VisitMalta) was the only rider with attacking intentions, launching solo straight from the gun. Realising no one was coming along, the Spaniard gave a quick shake of the head, but stayed committed and set off alone in a solo move.

With Muñoz out front on his own, the Spaniard was given plenty of space by the peloton. The Polti VisitMalta rider built up a maximum lead of five minutes and was in for a long day in the saddle. For the sprinters’ teams, it was the perfect scenario, setting the stage for what looked to be a fairly uneventful day. Luckily for viewers, the Giro rolled through the scenic Puglia region, delivering some stunning shots along the way.

We didn’t have to wait too long for some action, though. Around 150 kilometres from the finish, the intermediate sprint in Polignano sparked things up. Mads Pedersen was delivered perfectly, but Olav Kooij, Corbin Strong and Jensen Plowright were also in the mix. Plowright took the sprint and 8 points (Muñoz had already bagged the full 12), while Kooij, Pedersen and Strong picked up 5, 3 and 1 point respectively.

What had been a calm day in the bunch was suddenly disrupted with 120 kilometres to go by a crash that involved several key names. Mads Pedersen, still in the maglia rosa, hit the deck along with teammate Giulio Ciccone and France’s Romain Bardet. Most of the riders involved were quickly back on their bikes, but not Nickolas Zukowsky. The Canadian from Q36.5 Pro Cycling was seen clutching his collarbone on the roadside, marking an early end to his first-ever Giro. He became the third rider to abandon this year’s race.

With the Red Bull Kilometer approaching, the pace picked up again. A few GC hopefuls, including Primoz Roglic and Einer Rubio, jumped to contest the remaining bonus seconds. Muñoz had already swept up the full 6 seconds, but Isaac Del Toro took the sprint for second place, ahead of Roglic. The Slovenian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe shaved two seconds off his rivals in the general classification.

After Bahrain Victorious inexplicably ramped up the pace following the intermediate sprint, things settled again in the bunch. Muñoz was still plugging away out front, holding a gap of around two and a half minutes. But his lead steadily came down and with 70 kilometres to go, the margin had already dipped below a minute.

With 57 kilometres remaining, the brave Spaniard was finally caught as the peloton charged toward the third and final intermediate sprint. In a tight dash, Olav Kooij narrowly edged out Mads Pedersen in the fight for points, with Kaden Groves taking third and grabbing five points for his efforts.

As the riders entered the finishing circuit in Lecce, a loop to be tackled twice, another crash disrupted the race. Pedersen came to a stop again, though this time without going down. His teammate Søren Kragh Andersen wasn’t as lucky and looked to be in some discomfort. With a narrow section leading into a tunnel, the finale was already tense. One could only hope things would hold together in the final lap.

Riders had warned about it beforehand and the first lap of the finishing circuit confirmed it: the run-in was narrow and full of tight corners. With a tricky bend coming at less than 500 metres from the line, positioning was always going to be critical. As the peloton hit the final lap, things were already stretched out, and with all the turns still to come, that was only going to continue.

Tudor moved early to bring their sprint train to the front, but it proved too soon and they were quickly overtaken. INEOS Grenadiers also massed near the front with five kilometres to go. One rider who stood out was time trial winner Joshua Tarling, who pulled for a long stretch on the front. Kooij only had Edoardo Affini left in front of him in the closing kilometres, as Wout van Aert was further back and unable to deliver the leadout.

Alpecin-Deceuninck seemed to have nailed the timing, while Affini closed a late gap to a leading duo inside the final kilometre. Van Uden launched a huge 300-metre sprint and stormed to the biggest win of his career. Kooij crossed the line in second, with Zijlaard rounding out an all-Dutch podium in third. Despite a hectic day, Pedersen held on to the maglia rosa.