Riders give verdict on surprisingly hard Giro d'Italia stage: 'The last 50km were just painful'

Giro d'Italia overall hopes Mikel Landa and Rigoberto Uran said they were suffering at the end of hilly stage four

Tom Dumoulin on stage four of the 2016 Giro d'Italia

(Image credit: Watson)

The Giro d'Italia is known for its high mountain passes like the Gavia and Stelvio in the third week, but followers forget about its early traps. On a sticky, hot day in Calabria, when the race resumed in Italy after its Dutch start, the favourites rode to their limits and some lost time, including 2012 champion Ryder Hesjedal (Trek-Segafredo).

Italian Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) escaped over the final small climbs to win the fourth stage in Praia a Mare along the Tyrrhenian coast and its large sea caves.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.