LECCE, Italy (AP) — Casper van Uden won a bunch sprint at the end of the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday for the biggest victory of his career, while Mads Pedersen kept hold of the leader’s pink jersey.
Van Uden, a Grand Tour debutant who rides for Team Picnic-PostNL, edged out Olav Kooij as the three-week race resumed in the heel of Italy after the opening three stages in Albania.
It was only the fifth-ever professional win for the 23-year-old Dutch cyclist and a first in nearly a year.
“I didn’t do it alone. We did it with the whole team, all the boys here, and all the staff back at HQ as well. They did super work,” Van Uden said.
“I don’t think it’s a surprise. I know the boys and everyone really believes in me, so sometimes I have to find that belief in myself a little bit, but this helps. And everyone from the team, they do a really good job helping me believe in myself and it pays off. ”
Maikel Zijlaard was third at the end of the mostly flat, 189-kilometer (117-mile) route from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Alberobello to Lecce, to complete and all-Dutch podium for the first time in the Giro’s history.
Pedersen was fourth to maintain a seven-second lead over pre-race favorite Primoz Roglic and his 14-second advantage over Mathias Vacek.
“It was a hectic final, especially like the rest of the day was quite easy, but the final was really something special,” Pedersen said. “Wide roads and then narrow roads and so on. So a stressful day in the end, but all in all it was okay, we made it.”
It was certainly a long day for lone breakaway rider Francisco Muñoz. The Spanish cyclist spent 133 kilometers up front on his own after escaping right from the start — and shaking his head when he saw no one had followed him.
Wednesday’s fifth stage finishes at another World Heritage site as it ends in Matera, which is renowned for its “Sassi” or ancient cave dwellings, after a 151-kilometer route from Ceglie Messapica.
The Giro ends in Rome on June 1.
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