Taylor Phinney nursed around by BMC Racing; Katusha puts Joaquim Rodríguez into pole position
Garmin-Barracuda took victory in the 33.2km team time trial in the city of Verona, to put Lithuanian champion Ramunas Navardauskas into the maglia rosa. The American team was far from the dominant force that took last year’s Tour de France stage however, losing Danish powerhouse Alex Rasmussen early on, and, with Navardauskas himself and Peter Stetina both struggling to hold the pace in the closing kilometres, beat surprise package Katusha by just five seconds with a time of 37’04”.
Had Rasmussen been able to stay with the pace of his teammates, it would have been him that took the jersey, thanks to his third place on stage one. The Dane was dropped before halfway however, handing the lead to his Lithuanian teammate.
“Today was a special course,” said Navardauskas in the post-race press conference. “I was a bit nervous during the warm-up because it had technical corners, climbing in the middle and for nine guys to do it all together was not easy. I think it was really good for a team time trial, not too easy but not too dangerous.
“The team did a perfect ride,” he added. “I was selected for the Giro especially for the team time trial. I had to do everything to help team. I think I did ok.”
On taking the pink jersey Navardauskas becomes the first rider from Lithuania to do so, and at just 24 years of age he still feels that he is developing as a rider.
“I’m from Silale, a small village in Lithuania,” he explained. “I could have played football or cycling but I preferred cycling. In 2006 I spent a year at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle. I’m not sure what kind of rider I am yet; maybe the classics or on small climbs because I can survive on the climbs a bit.”
After average performances in the stage one time trial, Katusha was only the ninth team to start; its collective strength was bigger than the sum of its individual time trialling parts however, and its time of 37’09” was to stand until Garmin-Barracuda - the second to last team - went better. In third place was Team Astana, 22 seconds back, who also performed better than its riders times on stage one would suggest.
The times set by the two East European teams gave team captains Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) and Roman Kreuziger (Astana) an early advantage over virtually all of their overall rivals.
“The team did a spectacular team time trial,” said Rodríguez. “We couldn't have gone a second faster. I'm very happy because we gained seconds over all the other favourites, and this gives me strong motivation and great morale.”
The misfortune suffered by key riders to other teams was to work in Garmin-Barracuda’s favour as BMC Racing nursed incumbent pink jersey Taylor Phinney around the course. The American - who crossed the stage three finish line in an ambulance after the big sprint finish crash - was wearing a compression sock on his injured right ankle, and was clearly struggling on a number of parts of the course.
He almost came down in the middle of the stage, as he ran wide on a corner and left the road; luckily the grass surface was flat and he was able to rejoin his teammates, but it all contributed to the 31 second loss to Garmin-Barracuda on the finish line.
"I gave the maximum I had, but I had nothing to give," said the American afterwards. "I am so thankful to my team mates because without their great help and strong support I’m not even sure I could have done it to the finish."
Orica-GreenEdge had been expected to push Garmin-Barracuda close but, an at-times ragged performance, which saw a number of the team’s riders almost come off on the outside of one corner, cost the Australian team a lot of time. The early struggling of former under-23 World time trial champion, and individual pursuit World record holder Jack Bobridge - who has lost time in every stage so far - also put the team below strength.
Team Sky was another team expected to put in a challenge, but it too was nursing an injured rider in World champion Mark Cavendish - who lost a lot of skin in the stage three crash - and the British team finished 30 seconds down, in ninth place.
AG2R La Mondiale gets the stage under way with a wobble
AG2R La Mondiale got the stage off to an inauspicious start as a wobble from Guillaume Bonnafond in the start house saw him left behind and forced to chase back on in the opening kilometres. Euskaltel-Euskadi had a similarly shaky beginning as Miguel Minguez punctured in the opening kilometre; both teams were back together quickly however, and working together as best they could in a discipline that suited neither.
Of the early teams it was Lampre-ISD that set the running, suggesting that the team of the defending champion had made progress in overcoming the weakness of both Michele Scarponi and Damiano Cunego. The blue-fuchsia team passed through the first, 9km checkpoint in 10’14”, 33 seconds faster than the first time set by AG2R La Mondiale. Minutes later though, Katusha went through in 10’03”; a time that would stand for some time.
The AG2R La Mondiale team went through the 21.8km point in 26’30”, but Lampre-ISD was the fastest of the early starters again, as it set a time of 25’39”. The French team crossed the finish line in Piazza Bra, in front of Verona’s Roman Arena in 38’49”, but was beaten by a single second by Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela, who had rallied in the closing kilometres.
Lampre-ISD only had five riders by the time they reached the finish - pulled along by Adriano Malori in the colours of Italian time trial champion - but Scarponi and Cunego were both present as they crossed the line in 37’38”, 1’10” faster than Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela.
That time was to last until Katusha finished in 37’09”, handing Rodríguez another 29 seconds over Scarponi and Cunego, in addition to those he took in the stage one time trial.
Meanwhile, across town, BMC Racing was about to roll out of the start house; Phinney was wearing a compression sock on his injured ankle, and was clearly not going to make his usual contribution.
Team Sky, which was nursing Cavendish, passed through the 9km checkpoint in 10’11”, surely a far slower time than if the World champion been fully fit. Orica-GreenEdge matched Katusha’s time of 10’03”, but then Garmin-Barracuda flew through in 9’56”. Sky’s Geraint Thomas had been one of the riders tipped to take the pink jersey, starting the day just nine seconds behind Phinney, but this now looked all-but impossible.
Garmin-Barracuda fastest early on but not everything is going to plan
All was not well with Garmin-Barracuda however, and shortly after the checkpoint Rasmussen - who stood to become the first Dane in pink if the team could take 14 seconds from BMC Racing - was dropped. Navardauskas now became the team’s maglia rosa in waiting, and would become the first Lithuanian to wear the iconic jersey, but this meant that the Argyle men needed an extra five seconds to unseat Phinney.
Liquigas-Cannondale meanwhile, having passed through all the checkpoints with respectable times, finished the stage in 37’30”, losing Ivan Basso 21 seconds to Rodríguez.
Out on the road BMC Racing passed through the 9km point in 10’07”, losing 11 seconds to Garmin-Barracuda and loosening Phinney’s grip on pink a little.
Orica-GreenEdge’s fast start was beginning to tell a little on the Australian team, with Bobridge already beginning to yo-yo off the back. Phinney was also struggling, as he was momentarily distanced by the rest of his BMC Racing Team on a small rise.
Astana was the next across the line in 37’26”, losing just 17 seconds to the surprising Katusha Team. Orica-GreenEdge had lost almost this amount at the second checkpoint, going through 15 seconds slower than the Russian team with more than 11km still to ride.
Phinney goes offroad as he watches his pink jersey disappear
Phinney’s injury had meant that he had missed the team’s course reconnaissance ride that morning while he rested, and this was to have near-disastrous consequences for his team as he misjudged an unfamiliar corner and left the road. The 21-year-old managed to stay upright as he rejoined the tarmac, but was then faced with the further delay of clearing some long grass from his frame before he could get back up to speed.
Up ahead Garmin-Barracuda was fastest again, despite losing Rasmussen, going through the second checkpoint in 25’10”, nine seconds faster than Katusha. BMC Racing then passed through, 30 seconds down on its fellow American team, provisionally putting Phinney out of pink.
Team Sky crossed the line in a time of 37’34”, which would surely have been a disappointment to the team had Cavendish been fit; they were closely followed by RadioShack-Nissan in 37’32”, with Fränk Schleck limiting his losses nicely. Orica-GreenEdge then finished in 37’29”, twenty seconds slower than the surprise performance of Katusha, but not quite fast enough over it or Team Sky to put Brett Lancaster into provisional pink.
Garmin-Barracuda had other ideas however and, despite having to slow a little for a tiring Navardauskas, it crossed the line in 37’04”. This was just five seconds faster than Katusha, but was enough to take the lead. It was also 25 seconds faster than Orica-GreenEdge, and enough to put Navardauskas at the top of the general classification with only BMC Racing to come.
Phinney was holding on to the back of the red and black line as they entered the final kilometre, but the time was ticking away. BMC Racing finally crossed the line in 37’35”, to go into tenth place; more importantly though, the team lost 31 seconds to Garmin-Barracuda, and Phinney conceded the pink jersey to Navardauskas.
The 24-year-old Lithuanian also took the white young rider’s jersey, but Phinney will have the compensation of wearing this on stage five.
Result stage 4
1. Garmin-Barracuda, 33.2km in 37’04”
2. Katusha Team @ 5s
3. Team Astana @ 22s
4. Team Saxo Bank
5. Omega Pharma-Quick Step @ 24s
6. Orica-GreenEdge @ 25s
7. Liquigas-Cannondale @ 26s
8. RadioShack-Nissan @ 28s
9. Team Sky @ 30s
10. BMC Racing Team @ 31s
11. Movistar Team @ 32s
12. Lampre-ISD @ 34s
13. Team NetApp @ 43s
14. Farnese Vini-Selle Italia @ 59s
15. Rabobank @ 1’01”
16. Lotto-Belisol @ 1’05”
17. Vacansoleil-DCM @ 1’10”
18. FDJ-BigMat
19. Colnago-CSF Inox @ 1’12”
20. Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela @ 1’44”
21. AG2R La Mondiale @ 1’45”
22. Euskaltel-Euskadi @ 2’22”