Kazakhstan national champion Alexey Lutsenko of Astana claimed stage four of Tirreno-Adriatico NamedSport in a four-man sprint despite crashing twice during his epic solo ride over the Capuccini climb near Fossombrone. Second and third on the day, Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) and race leader Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) extended their advantage over challengers Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step). Equal time bonus earned by Yates and Roglic both en route and at the finish maintained the difference of seven seconds between them.
STAGE RESULT
1 – Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) 221km in 5h16’29”, average speed 41.897kph
2 – Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) s.t.
3 – Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott) s.t.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott)
2 – Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) at 7?
3 – Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) at 50?
JERSEYS
Maglia Azzurra (blue), general classification leader, sponsored by Gazprom – Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott)
Maglia Arancione (orange), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Sportful – Mirco Maestri (Bardiani CSF)
Maglia Verde (green), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team)
Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Open Fiber – Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb)
PRESS CONFERENCE
The stage winner, Alexey Lutsenko, said: “My first crash happened when I slipped on some gravels. The second one with 1.5km to go; I didn’t understand why it happened. This victory is only for myself because I’ve done so much work to make it happen. When I rode away with 50km to go, nobody thought I’d win. It’s a beautiful victory. Tomorrow it’s an even harder stage with an uphill finish. I might have spent too much energy today and I might pay the consequences of my crashes but my teammate, Jakob Fuglsang, is also in a great shape. It can be his turn tomorrow.”
The Maglia Azzurra, Adam Yates, said: “The guys looked after me all day and the final climb was short and steep. It was good to do it twice so we knew it well, but it was difficult to gain time there because it was too far from the finish. I can only confirm that I came here to win a stage. My goal is to win one spring stage race overall. This one is probably the hardest for me to win because of the final flat time trial, which isn’t my forte. My brother and myself, though, we always work on it. For people who weigh less than 60kg, we’re pretty good time triallists.”
STATISTICS
Alexey Lutsenko is the first Kazakh rider to win a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. After France, who hadn’t won for 10 years until Julian Alaphilippe claimed stage two and Italy, who had its longest drought (four years) until Elia Viviani took stage three, Kazakhstan is the 24th nation on the stage victories tally since the inception of the race in 1966.
Lutsenko equals Alaphilippe as the WorldTour rider with most victories this year: five. Astana makes it back on pair with Deceuninck-Quick Step with 17 wins so far in 2019.
It’s the third podium for Primoz Roglic – second in Fossombrone – at Tirreno-Adriatico, after his third place at Fermo on stage five in 2017 and his victory at Trevi on stage three last year.
TOMORROW’S STAGE
Stage 5 – Colli al Metauro – Recanati 180km.read full article
