The Giro d'Italia peloton decided to neutralize the race given poor weather conditions, and a final circuit, at the 112km 4th stage on Tuesday.
Race organizers decided to count GC times with 1 lap to go, and no bonus seconds would be awarded.The peloton began racing again with about 5km to go in the stage, but multiple crashes in technical sections took out many in the group in the final kilometer, and also held up riders behind. A small group was able to escape the chaos and contest the sprint.
Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) won the stage, with Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) placing 2nd and Tom Veelers (Giant-Shimano) placing 3rd.
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Alessandro Petacchi was 19th, and he remains 2nd in the GC, 8" back from race leader Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE). Serge Pauwels, Rigoberto Uran, and Julien Vermote round out the top 10 of the overall standings at 8th, 9th, and 10th respectively. (+19").
OPQS looks next to a 203km Stage 5, from Taranto to Viggiano, on Wednesday. The finish is on a short uphill.
