Giro 2014: Bouhanni sprints to win on Bari ice-rink

Nacer Bouhanni won a wet, part neutralised, crash filled stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia. Michael Matthews stays in pink. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 4th stage Giro 2014

1. Nacer Bouhanni (France)
2. Giacomo Nizzolo (ita) s.t.
3. Tom Veelers (The Netherlands) s.t.
4. Roberto Ferrari (Italy) s.t.
5. Elia Viviani (Italy) s.t.
6. Matteo Montaguti (Italy) s.t.
7. Kenny de Haes (Belgium) s.t.
8. Luka Mezgec (Slovenia) s.t.
9. Bert de Backer (Belgium) s.t.
10. Francesco Chicchi (Italy) s.t.

GC after stage 4
1. Michael Matthews (Australia)
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) + 0.08
3. Daniel Oss (Italy) + 0.10
4. Luke Durbridge (Australia) + 0.14
5. Ivan Santaromita (Italy) s.t.
6. Svein Tuft (Canada) s.t.
7. Pieter Weening (The Netherlands) s.t.
8. Cameron Meyer (Australia) s.t.
9. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia) + 0.19
10. Gianluca Brambilla (Italy) s.t.

Stage report
The big news this morning was that Kittel had to pull out due to illness, creating an opening for the other sprinters.
The stage started without the big German and if we thought Ireland was wet, it was nothing compared to today’s stage 4 in Bari. The riders refused to race and the organisers agreed to neutralise the final lap of the circuit so GC riders could avoid the dangerous sprint finish. The riders were proved right as a crash filled finale left the stage seemingly in the hands of Kittel’s back-up Mezgec. Unfortunately he had trouble with his gears so another Giant fastman, Veelers, took up the sprint. Bouhanni had also survived the chaos however and came powering through for his first grand tour stage win. Nizzolo beat Veelers to 2nd.

Michael Matthews didn’t contest the sprint but keeps his pink jersey.