Dutch rider van Uden springs surprise to win Giro sprint
Dutch sprinter Casper van Uden outsmarted the favourites to win stage four of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday while Mads Pedersen held the overall race lead finishing fourth.
Team Picnic PostNL's Dutch rider Casper Van Uden (C) celebrates as he crosses the finish line of the 4th stage of the 108th Giro d'Italia cycling race 189kms from Alberobello to Lecce on 13 May 2025. Picture: Luca Bettini/AFP
LECCE - Dutch sprinter Casper van Uden outsmarted the favourites to win stage four of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday while Mads Pedersen held the overall race lead finishing fourth.
Olav Kooij of Visma was second and Maikel Zijlaard of Tudor was third for an all-Dutch podium after a nervy mass bunch sprint on a winding and relatively narrow home straight in downtown Lecce, in the heel of Italy.
The fourth stage rolled out of tourist town Alberobello, known for its atypical conical roofs, for a largely flat 189km run to Lecce with packed ranks of fans in towns and villages.
Lone escapee in Spanish rider Francisco Munoz of Polti Visit Malta broke from the flag and rode the first 130km of the route on his own.
The 23-year-old would later be caught as he spent the day in the spotlight.
A crash at a feed zone brought down Dane Pedersen in the pink jersey, Briton Tom Pidcock and French climber Romain Bardet amongst others as Canadian Nickolas Zukowsky became the third rider to pull out of this year's Giro.