Giro d’Italia stage four preview: Mads Pedersen looks for first win in pink jersey as race reaches Italy

After a punchy couple of stages won by Mads Pedersen, which saw plenty of the peloton’s pure sprinters dropped on the climbs, the fast men have their first clear-cut chance of the 2025 Giro d’Italia today.

They’ll also have the benefit of the race’s first rest day on Monday - after only three days of racing - to recover from Sunday’s hilly stage three, won by Pedersen to take back the pink jersey from Primoz Roglic.

Tuesday’s 189km route sees the race hop over the Adriatic Sea from Albania to Alberobello to reach Italian soil for the first time. It’s an extremely straightforward route: almost entirely flat barring a minor category four climb at Putignano 16.6km in, and held on wide, straight roads travelling down the boot of Italy to the finish line in Lecce.

The peloton will tackle a 12km loop of Lecce with one passage of the finish line. The crucial final kilometres are totally pan-flat with one final proper corner just before the flamme rouge, before heading onto a 300m, eight-metre-wide finishing straight. The battle for positioning into that last corner will be the key moment to watch; anyone who slips down the bunch will be out of contention come the final.

Expect the pure sprinters to shine today: the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Olav Kooij and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale’s Sam Bennett were distanced on stage one and couldn’t contest the finish, but the climb isn’t severe enough to drop them today and there’s plenty of time - 170km or so - to chase back on even if they do fall off the back.

Orluis Aular has had two third-place finishes and in sprints and could be one to watch; Kaden Groves, Gerben Thijssen, and the Soudal Quick-Step pair of Ethan Hayter and 21-year-old French starlet Paul Magnier should all be in contention.

Stage one was a duel between Pedersen and Wout van Aert and the Belgian should be in the mix again today, although he might assume lead-out duties for Kooij instead. Pedersen looks to be the man to beat: his Lidl-Trek squad played a blinder on stage one and have the strength to control proceedings again today, and the Dane’s strength was apparent once more as he powered to victory once more on stage three.

Route map and profile

Start time

Stage three will start at around 11:55am BST and should conclude by 4pm.

Prediction

Every Grand Tour has its sprinting rivalries and dramas, and whoever wins the first flat stage holds the psychological advantage ahead of the next. That makes it hard to see past Mads Pedersen today, who has the confidence boost of winning stages one and three, and will want to add to his tally with a first stage win wearing pink. Olav Kooij and Paul Magnier are the best pure sprinters of the bunch and will be favourites to make his life difficult in the final.