Cycling
Jonathan Milan has won the fourth stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico. The Italian narrowly beat Jasper Philipsen and Corbin Strong on a difficult finish, he is also the new leader. Tim Merlier had to let go of the peloton in the final and was unable to sprint.
The fourth stage in Tirreno-Adriatico (Arrone-Giulianova) had the traditional course of a (relatively) flat stage: six escapees (Lorenzo Quartucci, Davide Bais, Mirco Maestri, Alexander Kamp, Jonas Abrahamsen, Alex Tolio) were in the spotlight. , but the sprinter teams joined forces and kept the lead under control. Under the impetus of Soudal Quick-Step for Tim Merlier, Lidl-Trek for Jonathan Milan and Alpecin-Deceuninck for Jasper Philipsen, the lead of the leading group had shrunk to one minute fifteen kilometers from the finish. At that time, the leading group was only three riders large, because Kamp, Maestri and Abrahamsen had thrown their fellow escapees overboard. Cavendish was no longer in the peloton, because he could not keep up with the high pace.
Merlier has to drop out
And the bumpy course also claimed a victim on the Belgian side. Merlier had to let go of the peloton about ten kilometers from the finish. He would not win this stage either.
The three escapees fought for all they were worth and three kilometers from the finish still had a fifteen second lead over the peloton, where Soudal Quick-Step still got involved in the debates despite Merlier’s absence. Did they believe in Julian Alaphilippe’s chances at the tricky finish?
In the last kilometer, Abrahamsen threw his fellow escapees overboard and because there were some doubts in the peloton, he seemed to be on his way to the stage victory. Pidcock saw the danger and started very early, but rolled out the red carpet for the fast men in his wheel.
Philipsen seemed to time his sprint perfectly, but Jonathan Milan worked his way to the front and was slightly faster than Philipsen at the finish. Corbin Strong came third, Biniam Girmay just missed the podium. Thanks to the bonus seconds, Milan is also the new leader.
