Casper van Uden claims Giro d'Italia stage win, Sam Bennett finishes sixth
Casper van Uden claimed his maiden Grand Tour victory in a sprint finish to stage four of the Giro d'Italia to top an all-Dutch podium in Lecce, with Ireland's Sam Bennett crossing the line in sixth for Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale.
Picnic PostNL rider Van Uden powered ahead of compatriot Olav Kooij (Visma) and Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) in a bunch dash for the line.
Mads Pedersen finished fourth to retain the overall Maglia Rosa leader's jersey.
Bennett had to settle for sixth. The Tipperary man is targeting wins at this Giro - it's almost five years since he took two stages plus the green jersey at the Tour de France, and just shy of three years since he took a pair of stages at the Vuelta a Espana.
He's 150th in the general classification, while Co Tyrone's Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) is 112th.
After the first three stages had started in Albania and were followed by a rest day, the Giro returned to Italy in Puglia, with a mostly-flat 189km run from Alberobello to Lecce.
Following an early break from Spaniard Francisco Munoz - who was later reeled back in - there was a crash in the peloton with around 125km left which saw Pedersen among those caught up as well as Britain's Tom Pidcock and Nickolas Zukowsky.
The Canadian, making his debut in the event with Q36.5, was subsequently forced to pull out with a suspected fractured collarbone.
As the teams all looked to keep their sprinters in position over the closing stages, Van Uden timed his move to perfection - securing himself a first stage win since June 2024.
In the general classification standings, Lidl-Trek rider Pedersen sits seven seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with Mathias Vacek in third.
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