Ulissi takes narrow victory in Pavullo

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One day after scoring Lampre-ISD's first victory of the season, Diego Ulissi returned to the winner's podium once again with a hard-fought sprint win from a six-man break in stage 4 at Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali.

The 22-year-old Italian edged runner-up Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone) as both threw their bikes at the line. Poland's Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp) rounded out the top three and moved into the leader's jersey, previously held by teammate Cesare Benedetti.

Ulissi initiated the winning break on the day's final climb, the Valico di Gaiato at 9km to go, and was joined by Di Luca, Huzarski, Androni Giocattoli teammates Jose Serpa and Jose Rujano, plus Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox). The six escapees managed to hold off a 13-rider strong chase group, led across the finish line by Paul Voss (Endura Racing) seven seconds in arrears.

"Today I was convinced I could do well and thanks to the contribution of my superlative companions I managed to arrive at the last climb with ease," said Ulissi. "The climb was difficult, especially in the last 5 or 6km I dealt with it using a 39×25, and at the appropriate time I tried to make a difference and I did.

"At first no opponent managed to stay with me during my acceleration, then a group of five riders joined me and we came to last kilometer together. Rujano tried to surprise us but Huzarski reacted, taking us back to the Androni Giocattoli rider. About 500 metres from the finish I launched my sprint and resisted the comeback of Di Luca."

The early portion of the 159km stage was dominated by a breakaway containing Yevgeny Nepomnyachsi (Astana), Dalivier Ospina (Colombia Coldeportes), Filippo Baggio (Utensilnord Named), Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) and Ruslan Karimov (Team Idea), which formed after 16km. Their maximum advantage reached 5:00, but the break was ultimately absorbed at km 111.5.

The peloton remained intact until it reached the final climb of the day, but shattered on the Valico di Gaiato ascent on which Ulissi launched his winning move.

The Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali concludes on Saturday with a 14.3km individual time trial in Crevalcore. The general classification is still tightly bunched at the top with the first 10 riders separated by 29 seconds. Race leader Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp) holds a 10-second lead over Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone), with Diego Ulissi (Lampre-ISD) in third overall at 11 seconds.