Tirreno-Adriatico (st. 4)

Spanish allrounder from Movistar Team joins ten-man early move, eventually goes solo until final 40km; 'Richie' takes 12th after good Blue support, continue to battle near top GC places.

Alexey Lutsenko (AST) took a very emotional success at Saturday’s 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico stage four , holding off a late surge from race leader Adam Yates (MTS), Primoz Roglic (TJV) and Jakob Fuglsang (AST) after suffering two crashes in the demanding final circuit around Fossombrone (221km, stage four), which nearly cost him the win.

The four-man lead put 23″ on a selected favourites’ peloton always including Richard Carapaz (Movistar Team). The Carchi native even aimed for more, and had strong support at several phases of the race from Rojas, Oliveira, Arcas, Prades and Sütterlin to stay at the front. ‘Richie’ ultimately took 12th place, sitting now just over two minutes from Yates in the GC.

The most prominent figure from the Sciandri / García Acosta-led squad on Saturday, though, was Lluís Mas, a leading part of the early breakaway. The Balearic allrounder, a true specialist in such moves who already shone at the final stage of the Tour de la Provence, entered a ten-man move from which he attacked solo, getting caught only by the top favourites at the grueling Monteguiduccio KOM, 38km before the end. Mas and his six team-mates will have to face another fair share of tough hills, prior to Tuesday’s TT showdown, at Recanati on Saturday (180km).

REACTION:

Richard Carapaz (via Goga Ruiz-Sandoval): “It was a really, really hard day – down to the brutal pace, the condition of the roads -there were lots of bumps at many sections, which caused many crashes and put most of us into danger at some points-, stress and, above all, our rivals. People here is in very strong form, and that makes for a spectacular race for the fans. We were able to join the early break with Lluís Mas and, in my case, and together with my team-mates, I could enjoy some fresher legs in the finale to stay with the GC group. My preparations for the biggest goal this season continue to go well, we remain confident and happy about this Tirreno and I hope to remain strong tomorrow and hopefully get a good finish in San Benedetto on Tuesday.” 

Cover picture (c): Luca Bettini / BettiniPhoto.net