Giro d'Italia: Polanc wins stage 4 on Mount Etna

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Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) took a surprise but highly deserved win atop Mount Etna on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia. The Slovenian went on the attack after just two kilometres of the stage and survived the following 179 to hold off a frantic chase from the peloton.

Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) survived an early crash to take second on the stage and valuable time on his rivals for the maglia rosa, while Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) finished third. Bob Jungels (QuickStep Floors) did enough to finish with the GC contenders to move into the race lead for the second time in two years after his teammate, Fernando Gaviria, slipped down the rankings.

The expected battle between the main GC favourites failed to materialise on the slopes of the volcano with a headwind playing a key role on the final climb.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) made a brief move off the front as he looked to take a win on home roads but until the final kilometre, when Zakarin, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb Team) attacked, the group of main favourites remained as one.

The stage, however, belonged to Polanc, who at 25, had not taken a win since another Giro stage win back in 2015 in Abetone. He escaped with Eugenio Alafaci (Trek-Segafredo), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), and Pavel Brutt (Gazprom-Rusvelo), and on a day in which many expected the stage to be decided by the overall contenders, few gave the break any hope of surviving.

"Today probably nobody expected the breakaway to get to the finish because we didn’t have a big gap for the last climb," Polanc said. "We were only four all day so it was very difficult. But I’m very happy – after 2015, to repeat a victory on the first mountain stage is incredible to me.

"The climb was quite difficult because it was a constant headwind. So it was difficult after a long breakaway today. Probably the hardest day of my life."

Jan versus the volcano

The four leaders were allowed to establish a lead of over eight minutes as Quick-Step Floors set the pace for their Colombian race leader, Gaviria, but even when the break held much of their advantage intact over the Portella Femmina Morta, all eyes were glued to the main peloton.

When Alafaci lost contact and Nibali instructed his Bahrain-Merida team to lead the chase it looked as though a predictable catch would be made on the lower slopes of the final climb. But the Giro is an unpredictable beast and over the course of the finale, Polanc turned the tables on his pursuers.

Nibali's men appeared unwilling or unable to do all of the work and when Polanc distanced Brutt and then Van Rensburg he set about conquering the volcano with a lead of over four minutes.

Behind the UAE Emirates rider, Orica, Team Sky, FDJ and Bahrain-Merida began to position their troops. The increased pace, the palpable tension and weary legs combined to cause a crash on a right-hand corner. Zakarin and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNl-Jumbo) were the most significant casualties, but remounted and rejoined the group.

On the lower slopes of the final climb, Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) attacked in his final Giro in a symbolic honour to Michele Scarponi but the battle between the GC teams was only beginning to simmer.

After three days of racing on the flat, this was a telling moment in this year's Giro in relation to who had the strongest team.

What we saw was that Movistar and FDJ both had numbers and that Jungels, despite his team's exploits on the flat roads, was isolated on the climbs. Team Sky juggled their leadership responsibilities and sent Philip Deignan back to help Mikel Landa after a front wheel puncture, while BMC rallied around Tejay van Garderen, who appeared to have fallen earlier in the day's action.

With 12.4km to go, Polanc still looked controllable and it was Pierre Rolland who opened the attacks once Tiralongo was brought to heel. The Frenchman established a 35 second lead on what was left of the peloton but Polanc, despite his rocking shoulders and gritted teeth, held his own. Those who foretold an early catch were quickly revising their predictions.

Nibali blinks first

Franco Pelizotti's surge off the front was quickly marked by Winner Anacona as Nibali and Quintana looked to entice each other into a response but as the kilometres ticked by and the gradient rose a form of status quo was established. There was certainly no letting up in pace, as Ben Hermans chopped into Polanc's lead and strung the peloton along the mountainside, but the wind, the freshness of riders seemed to cancel out any intent.

With Rolland caught, Nibali put two riders on the front and his attack with around 3km to looked to draw out Quintana but the Colombian was well supported. Although Jasper Hansen (Astana) made two valiant moves of his own, the Dane was unable to cause any real damage.

Polanc, clearly in pain, still had 1:20 on the chase with just over 2.5km to go but as the reduced bunch fanned across the road like an echelon in the wind the UAE rider gave it once last acceleration before the road dipped towards the line.

All that was left was for Zakarin to attack. The Russian had already conceded 20 seconds after a split earlier in the race and despite being caught up in the earlier crash he looked determined to make his attack stick. He was the first rider on Dumoulin's wheel when the Dutchman attacked and although the first accelerations were only good enough to draw out small gaps they provided the perfect launch pad for a second surge. Zakarin cut through Polanc's lead but there was no denying the Slovenian of his richly deserved win.

Zakarin crossed the line 19 seconds later and picked up another small time bonus for his efforts, while Thomas led the best of the rest 10 seconds later.

Jungels now carries the race lead and could remain in the pink jersey for several stages. Thomas has moved up to second at six seconds, while Adam Yates, Nibali, Quintana, Dumoulin, Mollema and a host of other GC contenders lurk just four seconds further back.

"Something like this is always a dream," Jungels said before collecting the maglia rosa. "To really believe it happened... it is something you have to be a little bit lucky [to get]. I think the team did a fantastic job. At the end, I was just hanging on until the final. I was waiting, waiting, waiting. It was perfect in the end."

Stage 4 Highlights

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