Tirreno-Adriatico 2014 Results 4th stage: Contador beats Quintana

Stage 4 in the 2014 Tirreno-Adriatico finishes after 244 kilometres atop in skiresort Selva Rotonda. The big contenders take control and Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana are by far the best. The Spaniard beats the Colombian in a sprint-a-deux dripping with El Pistolero's need for rehabiliation after his disappointing 2013 season. Kwiatkowski comes in at 5 seconds and is still GC leader. (Slideshow route/profile)

The first half of the race is flat and the break away group consists of Lloyd Mondory, Alexey Lutsenko, Filippo Fortin, Matthias Brandle, Alexandre Pichot and Maxim Belkov. The gap is 7 minutes at the maximum, but the bottom of the closing climb to ski resort Selva Rotonda their party is over.

Pirazzi attacks and is accompanied by Inxausti and Kreuziger. The Tinkoff Saxo rider says goodbye to his companions and proves to be a perfect launch base for his leader Contador.

Quintana and Contador leave the other top favorites alone and when Porte reacts, Kwiatkowski finds the strength to do the same. All together now. Porte attacks, but not sharp enough, and when Contador opens the sprint well in advance only Quintana can keep up with the Spaniard. Or at least he tries. But Quintana cannot cope and in a glorious way El Pistolero shows he is back in business after his disappointing last season.

Tirreno-Adriatico 2014 Results 4th stage

1. Alberto Contador (Spain)
2. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) + 0.01
3. Richie Porte (Australia) + 0.05
4. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) s.t
5. Richie Porte (Austalia) s.t
6. Michele Scarponi (Italy) + 0.08
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) + 0.10
8. Robert Kiserlovski (Croatia) + 0.11
9. Christoper Horner (USA) s.t
10.Giampaolo Caruso (Italy) + 0.17

GC after 4th stage

1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland)
2. Alberto Contador (Spain)+ 0.16
3. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) + 0.23
4. Richie Porte (Australia) + 0.34
5. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia) + 0.38
6. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) + 0.39
7. Robert Kiserlovski (Croatia) + 0.49
8. Moreno Moser (Italy) + 1.01
9. Mikel Nieve (Spain) + 1.02
10. Julian Davi Arredondo (Colombia) + 1.03