This is the first French victory in this Giro, the third in Aurélien Paret-Peintre’s career and undoubtedly the most beautiful. The AG2R Citroën rider won the fourth stage of the Tour of Italy on Tuesday between Venosa and Lago Laceno, in the south of the country. After 175 uneven kilometers, the 27-year-old Haut-Savoyard won in the sprint ahead of Andreas Leknessund (DSM), after being part of a breakaway of seven men who resisted the return of the peloton.
The 23-year-old Norwegian consoles himself with the overall leader’s pink tunic, which Remco Evenepoel has been wearing since Saturday and the inaugural time trial. The Belgian prodigy had announced that he wanted to leave the cumbersome coat on other shoulders, to of course recover it a little later.
Evenepoel drops the pink jersey
The leader of the Soudal-Quick Step is now second in the general classification, 28 seconds behind Leknessund, and two seconds ahead of Paret-Peintre, third.
“The Giro was my big goal for the year, I prepared thoroughly for these three weeks, commented the Frenchman, winner of the GP de la Marseillaise in 2021 and the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and Var at the start of . year. Today, I wanted to be in the breakaway. It’s magnificent: we came to win a stage so it’s great for my team. “And also great for tricolor cycling.