Stage 4 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia looked on paper like a routine sprint day – flat terrain between Alberobello and Lecce with only one categorised climb – but by the time the peloton hit the technical local circuit, order gave way to chaos. Casper van Uden emerged as the surprise winner, launching a long sprint from 250 metres out to take his first Grand Tour stage and deliver a major victory for Picnic PostNL.
Much of the 189km stage was uneventful. Fran Muñoz of Polti-VisitMalta was the only rider to go up the road, opening up a gap of over four minutes as the peloton kept things calm. The break ended shortly after the second intermediate sprint, where Olav Kooij beat Mads Pedersen to the line for bonus points. That calm unravelled quickly as the race entered Lecce.
The circuit finale, with two laps of a twisty 11km loop, created trouble. A crash with just under 25km to go took out Søren Kragh Andersen, the final lead-out man for Pedersen, and forced a reshuffle. Giulio Ciccone, aiming to protect his GC hopes, needed a second bike change at the worst possible moment, leaving Lidl-Trek spread thin and scrambling.
Pedersen was caught behind the crash and had to be towed back by Daan Hoole, who burned his legs doing so. With Mathias Vacek also spent, Pedersen was left without support in the final 500 metres. Team Visma – Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck looked to have the best positions approaching the flamme rouge, but Picnic-PostNL had been quietly moving up with precision.
Switching into aerodynamic TT helmets for the closing kilometres, Bram Welten led out Van Uden perfectly. On a day where positioning was everything, the 23-year-old Dutchman had the legs to finish it off. Kooij was boxed in and forced to sprint late, taking second ahead of Maikel Zijlaard. Pedersen finished fourth, holding onto pink but visibly frustrated after a messy finale.
“It was a bit of a shit situation with the crash for Søren and it caught me behind also,” said Pedersen. “Using Daan to come back basically destroyed our train, and from there on it was damage control.”
Despite the setback, Pedersen retained the maglia rosa, keeping a seven-second advantage over Primož Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Ciccone, after a frantic second chase with Jacopo Mosca, also managed to rejoin the front group and moved up to 19th overall.
For Van Uden, it was a day of vindication. “I didn’t do it alone. I did it with the whole team,” he said post-stage. “All the boys and all the staff did super work. I didn’t have to take any wind until around 200 metres to go… I really wanted it. Everyone in the team believed in me – maybe I just needed to believe in myself more too.”
His team’s tactic of deploying TT helmets late in the race raised eyebrows but was effective. “It’s not about looks,” Van Uden said. “It’s about being fast. If it wins races, we’ll keep doing it.”
There were consequences off the bike too. The UCI handed out more yellow cards under its new rules. Max Kanter of XDS Astana was relegated and fined for barging Pedersen in the finale, while Welten was cautioned for sitting up abruptly after launching Van Uden. Both incidents underscored just how unpredictable modern sprint finishes have become.
With another fast finish expected later in the week – likely stage 6 into Naples – Van Uden’s breakthrough has shaken up the sprint hierarchy, and Lidl-Trek will be looking to regroup after a day where everything that could go wrong, very nearly did.
Photo Credit: LaPresse2025 Giro d’Italia Stage 4 result
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Main photo credit: LaPresse
