Soudal Quick-Step Devo’s 20-year-old overcame a crash to remain at the top of the overall ranking.
Jasper Schoofs spent Wednesday in the pink jersey, but it wasn’t the calm day the Belgian was expecting after his stage three breakaway victory. In the final three kilometers, as the peloton was speeding towards the finish in Corato, Schoofs hit the deck. Fortunately, as this incident happened in the last three kilometers of the race, he was awarded the time of the winner, meaning he got to keep the lead in the general classification.
“It’s a pity I crashed, as it took a bit from the pleasure of wearing the maglia rosa today, but I still enjoyed wearing this special jersey, surrounded by a great team who worked so hard for me the entire day. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow and if I can retain it also after stage five, which will be much harder”, Jasper said at the finish.
Thursday will see the Giro Next Gen riders take on a testing circuit around Bacoli. The stage will be short but intense, and Mofete (where the average gradient exceeds 8%) and Monte di Procida - at 3.3km, the longest climb on the course - could very well reshuffle the general classification.
Photo credit: ©RCS Sports
