Giro d'Italia 2020: Stage 4 preview
By Cyclingnews
October 6, 2020: Catania - Villafranca Tirrena, 140km
Stage 4: Catania to Villafranca Tirrena
Date: October 6, 2020
Distance: 140km
Stage start: 12:15pm CEST
Stage type: Hilly/Flat Finish
Although the profile of the final Sicilian stage is dominated by the long climb of the Portella Mandrazzi, which should tempt a hopeful group of breakaways onto the attack, the pan-flat run-in along the top edge of the island’s north-eastern tip should swing the advantage towards the sprinters for the first time in this race.
The stage starts in Sicily’s second city of Catania, where Britain’s Chris Boardman and the USA’s Karen Kurreck won the inaugural world individual time trial titles in 1994. It heads north along the coast, before turning inland and uphill at Taormina, renowned for its Greek theatre which has Etna as its smoking backdrop. Skirting the lower slopes on the volcano’s northern side, the route reaches the first intermediate sprint at Francavilla di Sicilia and, soon after, the third-category Portella Mandrazzi.
After descending steadily for 30 kilometres, the riders will reach Sicily’s northern coast and close to 40 kilometres of flat roads. The second intermediate sprint comes early in this high-speed stretch towards the finish at Villafranca Tirrena. Two kilometres from the finish, the route swings left off the main highway and onto a kilometre-long straight on the seafront, where the sprinters should go elbow to elbow for the first time.
The line-up of sprinters looks as impressive as it was at the Tour de France, and is arguably even better than it was for that race. Caleb Ewan, Elia Viviani and Peter Sagan are doubling up having completed the Tour, and will be up against two of the season’s in-form sprinters in Arnaud Démare and Fernando Gaviria. Dark horses such as Jakub Mareczko, Davide Ballerini and Rudy Barbier will be hoping to spring a surprise.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Groupama-FDJ protégé retires at 21, opens up about burnout struggles
'I started to cry on the bike' says former French junior national champion Theo Nonnez -
Brabantse Pijl Dames 2021 - Start list
Provisional starters as of April 12, 2021 -
Rebecca Fahringer overcomes intimidation to win Gorge Gravel Grinder over 'cross rival Clara Honsinger
Jennifer Luebke completes the podium -
Lefevere: Mark Cavendish gave the best response and let his pedals do the talking
Belgian team boss on the one-year deal that has saved Cavendish's career
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.