As it happened: Movistar blow-up the Giro d’Italia on the 14km Cozzo Tunno climb but UAE and Lidl-Trek celebrate in Cosenza

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We will also have further news and content later in the day and then overnight and on Wednesday.

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Thanks for joining us for our full live coverage of stage 4.

Alasdair Fotheringham and James Moultrie were at the finish for Cyclingnews and will soon have interviews, reaction and analysis from the stage.

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This is our stage 5 preview. It includes over 4000 metres of climbing. It’s going to be a hard day out for Ciccone and Lidl-Trek as they try to defend the maglia rosa.

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Ciccone is in pink but could be challenged on stage 5 to Potenza.

The Red Bull KM comes in the late climbs and there are other bonus seconds at the finish.

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These are the stage results from our friends at FirstCycling.

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Ciccone won his first Giro stage back in 2016 but finally pulled on the maglia rosa.

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To read just how Narvaez won the stage and Ciccone took pink, read our full stage report, crafted by Matilda Price.

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Ciccone is from Abruzzo and so has a chance to climb the Blockhaus in pink on Friday. How ‘bello’ would that be?

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Thumbs up for Cicco!

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Ciccone kissed the maglia rosa, admitting it was a childhood dream to one day take it.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Jan Christen also tried to win the stage and take pink with a late attack, that worked in Narvaez’s favour.

“Jan is a great guy, he was trying to take the maglis rosa. He’s a young guy, he needs to learn how to race. He did a great final and in the end for me it was just waiting for the sprint,” Narváez said.

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Narváez was emotional after his win.

“It’s really big for me, coming from three months training in Ecuador,” he said post-race.

“I want to say thanks to my family, my wife, my team. They’ve been a great support in this time, and obviously this victory is also for my teammates who crashed on stage 2. They’ve been working for a while to come here in a good condition. We take the victory today but we were good before stage 2 too, so I think we are a lot happier now.”

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Giulio Ciccone’s name also rings out in Cosenza as Italy celebrates him taking the maglia rosa.

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Jhonatan Narvaez enjoys his moment on podium. He crashed hard at the Tour Down Under and had not raced before the Giro.

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Lidl-Trek have endured a difficult start to 2026 but everything is pink now Ciccone has the maglia rosa.

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Ciccone leads Jan Christen (UAE) by four seconds, with Florian Stork (Tudor) third and Egan Bernal (Netcompany) fourth, also at four seconds.

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Giulio Ciccone is almost in tears as it is confirmed he is the new maglia rosa.

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Meanwhile, the sprinters group, with Paul Magnier, finish over eight minutes down.

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This was the moment that Jhonatan Narvaez won the sprint.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Aular could only watch Narvaez as he sprinted on the other side of the road.

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It’s the first day in Italy and the first day in the maglia rosa for Italy.

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Ben Turner was up there too after his work to drag Bernal back up to the group.

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What a day of racing!

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The GC is close but Ciccone has it thanks to his time bonus on the line for third place.

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Aular lead it out along the barriers but Ciccone and Narvaez came off his wheel and the Ecudarian rider snatched it on the line.

That is huge for UAE after their crashes and loss of Yates and Vine.

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Narvaez wins it!

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Aular goes!

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Aular is there!

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Sobrero closes for Ciccone!

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Christen is clear!

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Movistar try to close the gap.

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Christen goes full gas, all in.

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Christen dives into the corners and gets a gap.

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The 3-second time gap is in force today and any riders who crash inside the final 5km get the same time as they group they were in.

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Michael Valgren (EF) is also in the group.

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Movistar have ridden for Aular but can he finish it off today?

There could even be late attacks from the 40-rider group.

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Stork missed out on the bonus seconds but has another chance in the stage finish.

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Pellizzari took second and Ciccone third but Pellizzari wasn’t happy with Christen moving across the road and blocking him along the barriers. Of course, Pellizzari should have been better placed.

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Christen was there for UAE and wins it.

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Visma go for it!

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Red Bull are on the front now.

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The GC riders might even fight for the 6-4-2 seconds.

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Watch out for Tudor and Stork going for the sprint too.

The pink jersey is up for grabs today!

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The Red Bull KM will be a sprint before the stage sprint.

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Phew…. Gee-West and Bernal make it back to the peloton. That was close. They could have cracked and lost minutes.

Meanwhile, Movistar still have 4 riders on the front, drilling the pace to set-up fast finisher Aular.

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The Gee-West and Bernal group can see the back of the group now. Thanks to Sobrero and Turner, the chase has real power.

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Sobrero has dropped back from the front group to help Gee-West and Bernal-Turner get back on. They are at 20 seconds as the descent eases.

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We explained how the Red Bull KM works here.

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The Red Bull KM sprint is coming soon, just 12km to go, with 6-4-2 seconds on the line.

It will be a battle for the maglia rosa.

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Speeds touch 90km/h on a straight section of the descent.

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Bernal is having to work himself on the front of the chase group. Netcompany have sacrificed Turner’s sprint chances to help Bernal but it might not enough to save Bernal’s GC hopes.

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There are only 38 riders in the front group. Bernal is still fighting to get back on.

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A problem for Derek Gee-West on the descent.

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Bernal and Tiurner are only 20 seconds behind and so might yet get back on.

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This work by Milesi and Garcia Cortina cracked the maglia rosa

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The climb is almost over but there re 3km of flase flat and so more hurting.

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Ben Turner has slowed to pace Bernal but they face a battle to get back on.

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The riders are 1km from the summit, as Vingegaard and the Visma rider grab bidons.

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We spoke too soon about Bernal. He is suffering and has lost the wheel in the front group!

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Florian Stork (Tudor) is now the virtual race leader. He is in the front group and was only four seconds down on Magnier, along with Egan Bernal.

And the Red Bull sprint comes after the descent, with six, four and two seconds up for grabs. Then10, 6, 4 at the finish.

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Bang Corbin Strong cracks and tells his teammates to leave him.

This is almost a GC stage now.

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There is still 4km to go the KOM point.

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Milesi has a face of pain as he gives his all on the front.

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Corbin Strong (NSN) is still in the front group but is suffering to stay on.

Movistar have 5 riders on the front to put down the hurt.

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Thomas Silva is already 2:00 behind.

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There are only 50 or so riders in the front group.

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Filippo Ganna has been dropped but Jack Haig is trying to pace him back to the front group.

Riders and teams know that the gradient eases soon but this will hurt the big Italian.

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The sufferance of Thomas Silva.

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Teams are staying vigilant about the wind but the race will soon change drammatically with the start of the climb.

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Due to the warm weather, riders grab bidons and musettes in the feed zone.

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Niklas Larsen drops back to Unibet team car and pours eater over his head and body.

It is warm out there, about 22C but even more so if you are working hard in the six-rider attack.

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The TV helicopter shots show the hilltop villages and so the testing terrain of Calabria.

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Groves was considered a sprint contender but crashed on stage 1.

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Sadly it has been announced that Kaden Groves (Alpecin) has abandoned the Giro.

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The average speed for the first hour is a fast 45.3 km/h.

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The coast road is flat and straight as it follows the sandy beach coastline.

XDS are again leading the peloton, as other riders roll along in their slipstream.

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Flags along the roadside confirm the wind is blowing but for now the peloton is all together.

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It’s time for the first feed zone. This cold slow the peloton briefly but then the roads are exposed to the wind from the Ionian Sea.

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Other teams have moved up to the front of the peloton, in preparation for any crosswind action.

Hold onto your hats!

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The riders are pedalling into a 30km/h headwind as they near the Calabrian coast.

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This is as great shot of Thomas Silva, his dog and his XDS Astana teammates.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-12T12:39:53.154Z

The riders are near Lamezia Terme now, where they flew into on Sunday night from Bulgaria.

They will see get a full on taste of the wind, which will soon become a cross wind.

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This is an interesting break.

Barguil is arguably the best climber and a Grand Tour stage winner, as is Mattia Bias.

Darren Raferty can also climb well- he was third in the Tour of the Alps mountains classification. He is also 10 seconds down on Silva on the GC.

We expect Larsen to be strong too.

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Sonas Vingegaard spoke before the start and seemed happy and relaxed as he talked how about how he needed to do some efforts on the rest day after the ‘easy’ pace of the opening stages.

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Other teams are trying to join the five attackers but that only inspires the peloton to chase.

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Meanwhile XDS are trying to control other attacks from the peloton.

There are five rider away.

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Warren Barguil is one of the riders on the attack.

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Attacks! Riders keep going up the road but others chase them.

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As the riders cover the 12km neutralised sector, the XDS rider share some Haribo and extra sugars.

XDS seem ready to defend the magli rosa but other riders are lined-up and ready to go on the attack.

5km to the flag drop!

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Jonas Vingegaard seems to be warming to the Giro.

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Jan Christen is the best young rider white jersey. He is perhaps also UAE’s team leader after losing Adam Yates and Jay Vine.

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Guillermo Thomas Silva is on the front row of the start grid in his maglia rosa.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Of course, true to character, Paul Magnier believes in his chances.

The Cozzo Tunno climb (14.5 km at 5.9%) ends 44 km from the finish, with a 20km descent and then 20km of flat roads to the finish.

“You have to believe it, otherwise there’s no chance. I’ll try. But I’ll know pretty quickly whether I can make it or not,” Magnier told L’Equipe.

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Unibet line-up at the rear of the peloton before the roll out. Dylan Groenewegen is not expected to survive the climb but Lukáš Kubiš could and is a proven fast finisher.

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This is the stage map, with the stage in the toe of the Italian peninsula.

(Image credit: RCS Sport)

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This is the stage profile.

(Image credit: RCS Sport)

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The riders and the race caravan are gathering at the start.

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The stage is ‘only’ 138km long but the riders face a neutralised sector of 12km, extending the time in the saddle.

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Netcompany are the next team to sign on.

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This is the official stage profile and map. Look how long the stage follows the expose coast road.

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Paul Magnier told L’Equipe he will try to survive the climb and so sprint for the stage victory but warned about the cross winds.

“The wind, coming off the coast, is likely to make the race more difficult, more nervous,” he said.

“If Vingegaard is in the first echelon and manages to distance Bernal, they’ll go all out on the climb to try and take as much time as possible from him. And that won’t be to my advantage.

If the climb has a tailwind, that won’t be to my advantage either. But I had a good altitude training camp. I don’t feel too bad in the mountains.”

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-12T10:54:07.295Z

The sun is out in Italy. There is little sign of wind at the start but the forecasts are for a strong headwind for the ride out of Catanzaro.

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Philippa York also gave her view on the racing in her Giro d’Italia analysis.

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James Moultrie and Alasdair Fotheringham are on the ground at the Giro for Cyclingnews. They also completed the transfer from Bulgaria to Italy.

James looked back at the Grand Partenza, highlighting the good and bad of a week in Bulgaria. It’s a great read.

This is our full stage 4 preview.

The wind is blowing in Italy today and so it could be a factor, especially along the coast road. We could see attacks, the peloton lined out and perhaps even splits due to echelons and the cross wind.

The wind is blowing from the riders’ left at average speed of 25 km/h.

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Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 4 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia