Hard Giro finish a happy surprise for Chaves

PRAIA A MARE, Italy (VN) — Colombian Esteban Chaves rated Tuesday’s fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia as a “beautiful” surprise due to the unexpectedly tough course that turned it into a race suited for overall contenders like himself.

“Everyone thought there would be 50 or 60 riders in the final, but it was not like this,” the Orica – GreenEdge rider told VeloNews with smile following the 200km stage from Cantanzaro to Praia a Mare while standing outside his team bus after showering and changing.

“There were only the GC riders [in the group behind Ulissi]. It was like a GC stage. This is beautiful for the Giro. It is not predictable. It is beautiful.”

Chaves counted himself among many who expected the stage to end in a group sprint. The race was anything but, with Lampre – Merida’s Diego Ulissi winning after a solo attack on the 2.2km Val del Fortino climb that was not even categorized and, according to the race book, spiked at an 18 percent gradient and began with 10.5km to go. Chaves and the main contenders rode in Ulissi’s wake but not the sprinters — including the race leader Marcel Kittel.

Chaves’s group of 22 riders came in six second behind. Former Giro champ Ryder Hesjedal (Trek – Segafredo) missed the split and is now 1:17 behind on GC. Going into Wednesday’s stage 5, 233km from Praia a Mare to Benevento, Dumoulin leads overall by 20 seconds. The overall favorites, such as Vincenzo Nibali, Alejandro Valverde, and Chaves are clustered in a …

continue reading in source velonews.competitor.com