Froome drops more time; Wellens wins fourth Giro stage
CALTAGIRONE, ITALY — Chris Froome fell further behind the leaders as Belgian rider Tim Wellens won the hilly fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia cycling race on Tuesday.
Froome finished 21 seconds behind Wellens, pushing the four-time Tour de France champion down to 20th overall, 55 seconds behind race leader Rohan Dennis of Australia, who held on to the overall leader’s pink jersey.
The 202-kilometre leg from Catania to Caltagirone in Sicily marked the return of the race to home soil following the opening three stages in Israel.
Froome, who is attempting to win his third straight Grand Tour, already struggled in the opening time trial after a training crash.
“I wasn’t in great position getting into the (finishing) climb,” said Froome, who still has bruises on his right leg. “But I’m getting better and better each day after the crash.”
Wellens, who rides for the Lotto-Fix ALL team, was one of five riders to create a small advantage in the final kilometre, which was entirely uphill — with gradients up to 13 per cent. Once the main pack caught up, Wellens burst ahead again.
“I started with a bit of an advantage at the beginning of the climb,” Wellens said. “I didn’t have to go full-on from the bottom; I could wait for the last
200 metres.
The 26-year-old Wellens also won a Giro stage two years ago, and he topped the overall classification in the five-stage Vuelta Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol in February.
“I’m very happy with winning as early as on stage 4, so the rest of the Giro will just be a bonus, whatever comes next,” Wellens said.
“I’ll ride stress free now.” Michael Woods of Canada crossed second and Italian Enrico Battaglin finished third, both with the same time as Wellens.
Dennis, who rides for BMC, holds a one-second lead over defending champion Tom Dumoulin.
Simon Yates of Britain finished fourth in the stage and moved up from sixth to third overall, 17 seconds behind.
The Giro ends in Rome on
May 27.