Serpa awarded win after relegation of Carrara

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Italy's Matteo Carrara (Vancansoleil) thought he'd won the fourth stage of the Settimana Lombarda on home roads in northern Italy on Sunday but his joy turned to despair as he was relegated to third place for dangerous riding in the sprint and the victory in Grumello del Monte went to Jose Serpa (Androni Giocattoli).

Carrara also lost time overall and he is now fourth overall, 42 second behind race leader Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli).

Carrara had attacked on the final descent close to the finish and got away with Serpa and Scarponi. As the line approached, the race officials decided he twice squeezed Serpa near the barriers and refused to listen to his appeals for clemency.

With just Monday's final stage only including some short climbs before finishing in Bergamo, Scarponi seems to have overall victory in the Italian stage race wrapped up. Riccardo Ricco' (Ceramica Flaminia) is second at 30 seconds and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Miche) is third at 35 seconds.