Jonas Vingegaard's progress through the Giro d'Italia has been very smooth so far after four days of action, but not quite perfectly smooth, after the pre-race favourite tried but missed out on bonus seconds on stage 4.
With time bonuses of 6, 4, and 2 seconds on offer for the first three across the line at the Red Bull Kilometre, Vingegaard made a play for the general classification boost 11km from the finish on Tuesday's stage.
Visma-Lease a Bike clearly targeted the Red Bull KM, with Victor Campenaerts setting things up and hitting the front to provide a lead-out for Vingegaard, who opened the sprint by launching to the right-hand side of the road.
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However, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), perhaps his closest rival for the overall title, hit out on the left, and worked his way in front, while Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) came roaring past both of them to cross the line first.
In the end, Vingegaard, sprinting all the way to the line, was left with nothing as Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) came past him to take third place behind Christen and Pellizzari.
"It’s unfortunate that Jonas didn’t manage to take any bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint," said Visma's sports director Marc Reef. "But the most important thing today was crossing the finish line safely in the front group.
“Before the stage, we had clearly identified staying out of trouble as the main objective today. The wind at the start made things nervous, and the pace was high right from the beginning. That’s why we made sure Jonas was well positioned near the front on the climb and the following descent."
The bonuses saw Vingegaard overtaken by Pellizzari on the general classification, with the Italian, who started the day on the same time, now four seconds ahead of him.
Vingegaard has not yet taken any bonus seconds so far in this Giro, while others have, including the Netcompany-Ineos duo of Egan Bernal (six seconds) and Thymen Arensman (four seconds).
However, beyond a touch of early psychological skirmishing, those bonuses should soon fade into insignificance, especially once the true climbing stages begin. Vingegaard has already temporarily skipped clear of most of his rivals, with a strong attack on stage 2, and his status as the heavy favourite is undiminished.
However, Pellizzari, one of only two riders able to follow on stage 2 and now getting the better of him at that intermediate sprint, is emerging as a strong rival.
There is another potential opportunity at the Red Bull KM on stage 5, which is positioned 20km beyond the top of the difficult climb of Montagna Grande di Viggiano.
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