The opening stages of a Giro d’Italia are often like the first rounds of a title fight. The contenders shadow one another, they prod and they probe, but rarely does the chance to land a telling blow present itself.
As the gradient stiffened to 18% on the slopes of the Fortino in the finale of stage 4 to Praia a Mare, however, Vincenzo Nibali and his Astana team suddenly spotted a chance to lay a glove on Mikel Landa (Sky), when the Basque was unable to follow the pace at the head of the peloton and was distanced.
Watching the images from the team car behind, Astana directeur sportif Giuseppe Martinelli reached for his radio receiver, and moments later, Nibali’s lieutenant Jakob Fuglsang danced to the front of the dwindling group in a bid to put daylight into Landa.
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Crashes notwithstanding, an overall contender rarely ends up on the canvas at this early juncture, but it briefly seemed as though there was an opportunity to claim the round at the very least, and gain a handful of seconds on Landa.
“It wasn’t premeditated, but we saw in that moment that Landa wasn’t in the front group anymore so we accelerated a bit. But really it was a question of staying in front and stretching out the group, we weren’t really trying anything,” Martinelli told Cyclingnews after the finish.
More on this story:
Giro d'Italia: Ulissi wins stage 4
Giro d'Italia stage 4: Finish line quotes
Giro d’Italia stage 4 highlights - Video
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