Giro d’Italia stage 4: Lennard Kämna fastest up Mount Etna

Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the first rider to summit the Sicilian volcano Mount Etna to win stage 4 of the 2022 Giro d’Italia.

After bridging to Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) from the remains of the breakaway, the two on the front worked together in the final 3km to keep a closing Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux) in the rearview mirror.

A miscalculation around a 180-degree hairpin with 100m to go may have cost López the stage win when he was forced to brake, however, the Trek-Segafredo rider rode to second on the stage and into the overall lead. Meanwhile, Kämna sprinted clear to take the stage honors.

“It was a super hard day, especially the last climb, it was really long and really hard. I almost thought that I had lost it when López had more than 30 seconds, and I just made it to bridge to him. Then, I tried to recover a bit for the sprint and it worked out really well,” Kämna said.

“I’m so happy to already have the stage win in the pocket. For our team, it’s really great to have an early victory. It’s relieving a lot of pressure and I think for us everything is on the right way.”

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) had started the day in the maglia rosa but ultimately ceded it when he drifted off the back and into the groupetto with more than 20km to go.

“It’s one of the jerseys most beautiful of my life and I have to enjoy it for as many stages as I have it. To have the pink jersey like him it’s a big emotion for me to wear this same jersey that [Alberto] Contador did,” López said. “It’s a dream coming true for me, and I want to really enjoy this for what it is. The objectives are clear, we have Ciccone, and when the time comes to work for him, that’s what I will do.”

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How it happened

In the early kilometers of the stage, Simon Yates went down in a minor crash. He quickly remounted, had a visit with the race doctor’s vehicle, and rode his way back into the peloton. Meanwhile, Miguel Ángel López abandoned the race early on with his Astana-Qazaqstan squad citing a hip injury as the reason behind his departure.

The pace was frantic and a lot of attacks were thrown in an attempt to make the break early on.

The 14-man attack, with Kämna, López, Taaramäe, and Mauri Vansevenant (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), among others, had more than eight minutes of a margin with 100km remaining.

By the time the distance remaining was halved, crosswinds were blowing apart the breakaway. The main bunch took advantage of this, shaving the margin to 7:00.

While the pace in the peloton did not ratchet up significantly, Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) was shed from the bunch at 35km to go as Van der Poel’s teammate Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Finenx) attacked the break.

The proper climb up the active volcano began at 28km to go and just three kilometers into the ascent the maglia rosa had drifted off the back of the peloton

Breakaway comes apart

Up at the front, Lilian Calmejean (AG2R-Citroën) was the next rider to drop from the break at 18km to go and only six chasers remained behind Oldani, who was about 30 seconds ahead of the main group.

Oldani stretched a 50-second margin to the chase group at 15km to go, with the Ineos Grenadiers in formation at the front of the peloton, riding tempo and protecting Olympic champion Richard Carapaz.

Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) attacked the second group on the road at 12km to go on the steepest grade of the climb and went after Oldani.

López passed Oldani with about 11km to go, riding a much faster cadence, and quickly put more time into him over the successive kilometers. López quickly put 25 seconds into Oldani and an additional 10 seconds into the remaining intermediate group, which was still some five minutes up the road from the Ineos-led peloton.

The 2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) was shed from the bunch at 8km to go, essentially ending his bid for the overall classification. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana-Qazaqstan) was the next former winner to fade from the big bunch, just a few hundred meters later.

With a short but explosive attack, Kämna set off after López, and closed the gap to 22 seconds with five kilometers to go, while the chasing group further came apart.

Kämna made up more time on López, and was just 10 seconds back at 3km remaining. The two came together in the final 2.8k of the stage and paced together to keep their distance over Taaramäe and the main group.

Into the final kilometer, López slotted in behind Kämna and looked to be in the best position, however, a series of turns ending in a final left 180 threw off López’s rhythm. He was forced to brake coming out of the turn, and Kämna quickly opened a few meters gap.

López struggled to regain speed, and Kämna held the Spaniard to take the stage win.

While López has never won a WorldTour bike race, he’s now the overall leader of the 2022 Giro d’Italia.

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What’s to come

Stage 5 Wednesday is a 174km stretch between Catania and Messina — Nibali’s home — that favors the sprinters.