Under the sun, for the first day in Italian territory after the Hungarian start, the breakaway of the day came to an end up to an altitude of 1892 meters.

For the combined happiness of Kämna and Lopez, the last two survivors who shared the honors in front of the Sapienza refuge.

The peloton of favorites approached the very long climb of Etna (22.8 km at 5.9%), almost six minutes late.

On arrival, his disbursement amounted to just over two and a half minutes from the winning duo.

But the stage has weakened, even condemned, several candidates for runners-up.

Mainly the Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, released about ten kilometers from the summit without the winner of the Giro 2017, third in the time trial on Saturday, finding an explanation: "I was not well, that's all!"

Another former winner, the Italian Vincenzo Nibali, then let go, before the last six kilometers, at the same time as the French climber Guillaume Martin.

The Sicilian "Shark" lost more than two minutes on the favorites, the liability which also affected the Norwegian Tobias Foss theoretically acting as a replacement leader in the Jumbo team of Dumoulin.

- a Lopez in pink, another at home -

For Nibali's Astana team, the day had started off in the worst possible way.

By the abandonment, even before the end of the first hour of the race, of its Colombian leader Miguel Angel Lopez, decidedly cursed in Sicily since he had stopped the Giro 2020 from the first stage in Palermo.

The Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez now the leader's jersey of the Tour of Italy after the 4th stage at Etna, May 10, 2022 Luca Bettini AFP

"He was complaining about his left thigh two days before the start but he hoped to get better, that was not the case", explained a manager of his team after the arrival.

Between the main favorites, the positions remained fixed.

We were just able to verify the presence of the team of Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who most often ensured the pace along the climb before the Olympic champion beat Romain Bardet for 7th place in the step.

In this strong group of 17 riders, Carapaz, who kept only one teammate (Richie Porte), was however able to verify the numerical strength of two teams, Bahrain and Bora, represented by three elements.

Lopez, whose professional record has been empty of success since his debut at the end of 2019, succeeded Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who did not try to keep in touch on the first slopes of Etna.

German rider Lennard Kämna (Bora) winner of the 4th stage of the Giro at Etna, May 10, 2022 Luca BETTINI AFP

"I don't know how long I'm going to keep the jersey," said the 24-year-old Andalusian Team Trek rider.

"I don't ask myself the question, I prefer to savor!"

On Wednesday, the race remains in Sicily for the 174 kilometer long 5th stage between Catania and Messina.

A pass (Portella Mandrazzi) is located before the halfway point but the final is favorable to sprinters.

© 2022 AFP