Kamna wins on Mt Etna as Lopez takes Giro d'Italia lead / Photo: Luca BETTINI - AFP
Kamna wins on Mt Etna as Lopez takes Giro d'Italia lead
Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez took the overall lead of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday as Lennard Kamna won stage 4 after a 23km climb up Mt Etna in Sicily.
The pair had been part of a long-range breakaway.
The overall favourites Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates finished 2min 37sec adrift.
After a three-day stay in Hungary, the Giro peloton had a rude awakening on its arrival in Italy as a 14 rider escape group tore away early on the 170km ride from Avola to Etna.
Among the potential contenders for the overall title, the 2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin dropped time on the final climb as British outfit Ineos set a blistering pace up the 1,892m summit.
Another rider who failed to produce was Italian veteran double Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali, who was dropped in the final kilometres.
Overnight leader Mathieu van der Poel made no effort to defend his lead on the climb, but had earlier attempted a long range solo escape.
Astana's Colombian climber Miguel Angel Lopez withdrew early in the stage on a day marked by a motorbike crash that brought a clutch of riders tumbling to the tarmac.
Wednesday's stage 5 is also in Sicily, running from Catania to Messina with a mountain to climb early on, making another escape a strong possibility.
T.Fernsby--MC-UK
