Primoz Roglic beat Julian Alaphilippe at the top of Tortoreto to win the 4th stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. It was the German Lennard Kämna who took the opportunity to take the lead in the general classification, to the detriment of Filippo Gana.
After David Gaudu, dolphin of Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday during the climb of La Loges-des-Gardes on Paris-Nice, it was the turn of another French cycling cador to finish just behind an illustrious Slovenian, Primoz Roglic. This Thursday, on the occasion of the 4th stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, which saw the peloton climb the Tortoreto (3.2km at 6.9% on average and peaks at 9%) four times, and in particular to conclude the day, it was the former three-time winner of the Vuelta who triumphed.
Present in the group of favorites which were however missing Wout Van Aaert and Tom Pidcock, who had fallen four kilometers from the finish, the Slovenian was clearly the strongest and accelerated at the end to dominate Julian Alaphilippe and Adam Yates. The 33-year-old rider thus signs the 66th victory of his career, his first since the last Vuelta and his third on Tirreno-Adriatico.
Alaphilippe is in good shape
But while leader Filippo Ganna, in the lead since Monday’s time trial, broke down on the final climb, it was not Primoz Roglic who took the blue jersey. It is indeed Lennard Kämna, second Thursday morning at 28 seconds from Ganna, who takes control of the general classification, with six seconds ahead of Roglic, three days from the end.
Julian Alaphilippe, who worked a lot for his sprinter Fabio Jakobsen during the first stages and hadn’t raced the clock hard, is further back in the general classification (23rd, 59 seconds from the leader), but he proves that he is in form as soon as the road rises. This bodes well for the future, as a new arrival at the summit is scheduled for Friday (168km, arrival at Sassotetto, with 13.1km to climb at an average of 7.3%).
WORLD TOUR / TYRRHENIAN-ADRIATIC (ITALY)
Classification of the 4th stage (Greccio – Tortoreto, 218km) – Thursday March 9, 2023
1- Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma) a 5h00’04
2- Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/Soudal-Quick Step) mt
3- Adam Yates (GBR/UAE Emirates) mt
4- Wilco Kelderman (PBS/Jumbo-Visma) mt
5- Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR/Ineos Grenadiers) mt
6- Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar) mt
7- Victor Lafay (FRA/Cofidis) mt
8- Joao Almeida (POR/UAE Emirates) mt
9- Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) mt
10- Hugh Carthy (GBR/EF Education-EasyPost) mt
…
General classification (after 4 out of 7 stages)
1- Lennard Kämna (ALL/Bora-Hansgrohe) a 15h38″46
2- Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma) at 6″
3- Joao Almeida (POR/UAE Emirates) at 8″
4- Brandon McNulty (USA/UAE Emirates) at 13″
5- Wilco Kelderman (PBS/Jumbo-Visma) à 15″
6- Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) à 17″
7- Jai Hindley (AUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 18″
8- Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR / Ineos Grenadiers) at 19″
9- Giulio Ciccone (ITA/Trek-Segafredo) at 26″
10- Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar) at 27″
…
14- Thibaut Pinot (FRA / Groupama-FDJ) at 37″
…