Nazaret prevails in Rio Das Ostras

A daring attack after a long day in the break earned Brazil’s Magno Nazaret (Funvic-Pindamonhangaba) the win on Stage 4 of the Tour do Rio, a 193km trek from Teresopolis in the mountainous northwest to Rio das Ostras on the coast to the north of Rio de Janeiro.

The stage resulted in a mild shake-up of the top 10 riders on general classification, with Juan Suarez (EPM-UNE) extending his overall lead to 27 seconds, while his teammates Jaime Castaneda, Edward Beltran and Javier Gomez now all make up the top four with the previous best-placed Brazilian rider, Rafael Andriato (Petroli Firenze-Cycling Team), dropping down to 14th overall after he lost 11:20.

The day was highlighted by long, winding ascents and steep descents which for the most part was tempered by a headwind before the race finally hit the flat with approximately 60 kilometres remaining. Jamis-Sutter Home’s Eric Schildge again attempted an early breakaway with Marco Coldan (Trevigiani) before being brought back before the first climb of the day – but this was just the warm-up.

The hair-raising descent resulted in a group of 12 riders including Nazaret, Antonio Nascimento, Adelio Silva (Funvic / Pindamonhangaba), Tyler Wren (Jamis-Sutter Home), Castaneda, Gomez, Suarez, Flavio Reblin (GRCE Memorial / Pref. De Santos / Giant), Ibon Zugasti, Josep Constantino (MMR), along with Robigzon Oyola and Edward Beltran (EPM-UNE) to escape from the splitting pack, with Wren’s teammate Jamie Driscoll slightly further ahead.

The second climb of the day saw Nascimento jump from third in the KOM classification into first. The polka dot jersey holder heading into today’s stage, Renato Seabra (Clube Dataro de Ciclismo / Foz do Iguacu), was forced to abandon following his second crash of the day which was far more serious than the first. The Brazilian collided with a barrier on the descent which saw him being taken to hospital with serious cuts to his hip and upper leg.

By the base of the second climb the break’s lead was extended to five and then nine minutes as the escapees were aided by a tailwind heading to the coast.

Fading in the second major group was all-rounder Andriato (Petroli Firenze), who was finally broken by the climbs, despite coping well on the previous stage.

This was again a day for the Colombians, however, and with 10 kilometres remaining Nazaret made his move, if only for what resulted in a 10-second gap on his breakaway companions. Meantime, with approximately three kilometres remaining on the zippy suburban finish, Driscoll attacked setting up Wren for the US team’s first and deserved podium at the Tour do Rio.

Sunday's fifth and final stage sees the Tour do Rio peloton head back to Rio de Janeiro with a 197.6 kilometre run down the coast with four sprint primes on offer with Edgardo Simon (Caloi) and Andriato set to battle it out for the green jersey.