Andreas Leknessund and Aurélien Paret-Peintre were the protagonists of the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday. The Norwegian and French runners, who arrived alone at the finish line of Lake Laceno – after a breakaway of 100 kilometers of the 175 they had to travel today – with a difference of almost a minute with respect to their pursuers, won a prize in a mid-mountain route. The first snatched the maglia rosa from Remco Evenepoel, world champion and leader until Tuesday, and the second achieved the stage victory to the sprint.
Evenepoel loses the lead, but maintains the gap with his main rival in this Giro, Primoz Roglic. The attacks of the sprinters threatened from the beginning of an intense stage, with Ben Healy, of the Education-EasyPost, at the head in most of them. The continuous changes of pace to stop the escape attempts caused Evenepoel to be off the hook, but his teammates appeared to help him and prevent the damage from going further.
None of the attacks were successful until, 100 kilometers from the finish line, seven cyclists escaped triumphantly to try to take the stage. Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Andreas Leknessund, Tom Skujins, Vincenzo Albanese, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Nicola Conci and Warren Barguil gained a few meters to the main group, and then much more. The seven came to have an advantage of 5 minutes and 45 seconds of the peloton 20 kilometers from the finish. Enough to guarantee victory. None of them had ever won a stage of the Giro.
Not only the stage was at stake, the maglia rosa as well. Leknessund started the day 1 minute and 40 seconds behind Evenepoel and was touching the lead. He was the closest to his fellow escapees and couldn't slow down. Conci was playing at home and tried to scratch some extra seconds on the final climb, but the rest of the escapees did not allow it, at the same time that Barguil was off the hook.
Paret-Peintre and Leknessund took the final lead in the final three kilometres, aware of what was at stake. The Frenchman and the Norwegian crossed the finish line one after the other after a route in which they had to suffer to share the stage and the overall lead. "It's super special to wear the Maglia Rosa. The only Norwegian who had worn it before me was Knut Knudsen, but if you look at who has worn the Maglia Rosa in recent days and the impact of this jersey, it's a great day for my career," said the new leader, who cannot be trusted, as he has Evenepoel just 28 seconds behind. A trifle for the world champion.
This is the classification of the stage:
| Position | Runner | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aurelien Paret-Peintre | AG2R Citroen Team | 4:16:04 |
| 2 | Andreas Leknessund | Team DSM | +2s |
| 3 | Toms Skujins | Trek Segafredo | +57 |
| 4 | Vincenzo Albanese | Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | +57 |
| 5 | Nicola Conci | Alpecin-Deceuninck | +1:02 |
This is the general classification:
| Position | Runner | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreas Leknessund | Team DSM | 14:35:44 |
| 2 | Remco Evenepoel | Soudal Quick-Step | +28s |
| 3 | Aurelien Paret-Peintre | AG2R Citroen Teams | +30s |
| 4 | Joao Pedro Almeida | UAU Team Emirates | +1:00 |
| 5 | Primoz Roglic | Jumbo Visma | +1:12 |
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