Frascati bitter for Tom Dumoulin, that lose 4 minutes arriving at the finish line, escorted by all his Sunweb comrades, with a bad knee from which flows the blood that covers the whole leg in red. The Dutchman is the most illustrious victim of a fall, triggered by Puccio skidding in the leading part of the peloton less than six kilometers from the finish, with all the big names ready to face the complicated final race ahead in the narrow and uphill streets of the famous village in the Castelli Romani.
A general mess: runners fallen on the ground, some to the right, others to the left on the edges of the slightly downhill road, made slimy by the first drops of rain, when the peloton was spinning at over 50 km per hour. Dumoulin found himself thrown into a narrow ditch unable to move until they helped him navigate the rims of the wrecked bike. The group split into many squads with Roglic in the pink jersey lucky to be in the lead while Nibali and Miguel Angel Lopez, who were following Puccio, miraculously managed not to fall but, hampered by the tangle of bodies and vehicles on the ground, they were forced to pursue alongside Simon Yates. Dumoulin got back on his bike but the last km of the stage were an ordeal for him, in pain and with low morale because he practically understood that for him the Giro was practically over there.
In front Roglic was pushing hard to make the most of the advantage that good luck offered him. With him there were also sprinters such as Caleb Ewan and Pascal Ackermann who, unlike Viviani, also held up on the final ramps, which were actually not prohibitive. It seemed that the pink jersey could do an encore at San Luca but when Richard Carapaz sprinted at 300 meters, one who knows how to climb uphill, it was not Roglic but Ewan who tried to grab him again, followed by Ulissi. The Ecuadorian from Movistar resisted the return of the Australian by taking his second career win at the Giro. Third Ulysses at the same time. Roglic was satisfied with sixth place preceded by Pascal Ackermann – the German champion who won Fucecchio, always among the first in this part of the Giro – and by Florian Senechal. Yates with Nibali and Lopez arrived 18” after Carapaz.
Landa followed at 44”. 4'02” had to pass before seeing Dumoulin cross the finish line: the Dutchman was the portrait of desolation. The crowd applauded his courage but the 1917 Giro winner, second behind Froome last year, plummeted from fifth to 56th place in the general classification 4'30” behind Roglic. Immediately transported to the hospital Dumoulin could also abandon the race as of today in order not to jeopardize his participation in the Tour. Roglic, fourth day in the squad, strengthens his leadership by extending even on Yates, always second in the general classification but with a gap of 35” . Nibali is third at 39", Lopez fourth at 44" reached with the same delay by Diego Ulissi, brilliant third in Frascati.
Today's fifth stage will take the Giro from Frascati to Terracina. A stage for sprinters, but what happened on the outskirts of Frascati confirms that in cycling there are pitfalls everywhere, especially if the route has sections of narrow roadway and with a very worn road surface, as warned by the presentation sheet of today's stage by the organizers of the Gazzetta dello Sport.
