LAGO LACENO: AG2R Citroen rider Aurelien Paret-Peintre dug deep and launched a late attack to win stage four of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, while Andreas Leknessund seized the leader’s maglia rosa jersey from Remco Evenepoel.

After an action-packed start to the stage, a seven-man group engineered a breakaway at the 79-km mark and gradually built a lead which was over five minutes at one point of the 175-km ride from Venosa to Lago Laceno.

The duo of France’s Paret-Peintre and Lekne­ssund (Team DSM) opened up a gap on the group on a steep climb close to the ski resort Lago Laceno for the Norwegian to take the fabled pink jersey held overnight by race favourite Remco Evenepoel.

While Evenepoel took pink on day one in a time-trial along the Adriatic coastline, Leknessund, a former Norwegian time-trial champion, trailed him by 1min 18sec and is the new leader due to that effort combined with Tuesday’s escape.

Evenepoel suffered a late puncture as the peloton rolled through heavy rain into the mountains of the Lucanian Apennines, which his team dealt with swiftly.

The Belgian also had an early scare when his key rival Primoz Roglic joined a failed escape whilst the Quick Step star was stuck at the back.

Wednesday’s stage five is a 171-km ride from Atripalda to Salerno, featuring numerous climbs before a flat finish on the Amalfi coast where a mass sprint is expected.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2023