Tirreno-Adriatico: Landa wins stage 4

Mikel Landa (Movistar) took the win on stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico after a hectic finale on the summit finish at Sarnano Sassotetto. He out-sprinted Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) after a hectic finish.

It's the first win of the season for the Spaniard and Spain's first victory at the race since Alberto Contador win at Guardiagrele in 2014. The Movistar man struck out on the final climb's steepest section, chasing after Majka's lead group, before powering round the outside of the final corner to edge to victory.

"I saw Sky had numbers and I decided to wait a little bit because we were a little far from the finish line when [Miguel Angel] Lopez attacked. I waited a little bit and kept the riders working and wait for the final attack," said Landa. "I'm in a new team. I'm in good shape and when you start like this in a new team I think that it gives you more confidence."

BMC's Damiano Caruso took over the blue jersey after race leader Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) suffered a mechanical problem heading into the final kilometre.

The result leaves Caruso just one second ahead of Michal Kwiatkowski, 11 in front of Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), and 20 ahead of Landa in fourth overall, with three stages left to run including tomorrow's hilltop finish in Filottrano and Tuesday's closing time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.

How it unfolded

After Friday's mammoth 234km stage, Tirreno-Adriatico's queen stage was another long one at 219km. Three classified climbs dotted the sawtooth profile, each a cat three - San Ginesio at 137.6km, Gualdo at 151.3km, and Penna San Giovanni at 170.9km. Intermediate sprints came at Colmurano at 114.3km and Sarnano at 205.8km. The day was primed for a big GC fight on the final climb of the day, however - a 13.2km ride to the finish at Sassotetto with an average gradient of 7.2 per cent and a maximum of 13 per cent.

A few kilometres into the day the breakaway formed. No major names were involved so the group hit out without much pushback from the peloton. Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini), Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia), Krists Neilands (Israel Cycling Academy), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) and Alexander Vlasov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) were the six men out front.

The group's gap topped out at around five minutes, but the main concern for Mosca and Bagioli was to consolidate their respective leads in the points and mountains classifications. Today's stage marked the duo's third consecutive day in the break.

Meanwhile, back in the peloton, there was trouble for Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), as the Dutchman crashed early in the stage and was forced to abandon. His team would later confirm that Dumoulin sustained bruising and abrasions but thankfully no fractures. It compounded a difficult week for him after he started the race feeling ill.

As Team Sky controlled the pace at the front of the peloton, Mosca and Bagioli duly mopped up the lion's share of the sprint and climb points. Their job done after the day's final sprint, it was down to Neilands and Vlasov to put up a token resistance as the GC riders took over seven kilometres from the line.

By that point Astana had taken control of the peloton, whittling down the peloton as the big names jostled for position among them. The Kazakh team's leader, Miguel Angel Lopez, was first to blink, attacking more than five kilometres out. He was soon joined by Majka, Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), and Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) as Team Sky controlled the pace-making some 20 seconds further back.

Majka struck out alone on the steep section 3.5km from the finish, causing Lopez to crack spectacularly as Landa attacked behind. The Spaniard didn't take long to join the remaining trio up front, but there was still drama to come.

Heading into the final kilometre, race leader Thomas was forced to stop and change bikes with a chain problem. At the same time, Bennett jumped away from the chase group, quickly catching the leaders and setting up the chaotic battle for the stage victory which saw Landa come out on top.

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