One day after losing Domenico Pozzovivo, Ag2r saw new captain Carlos Betancur lose more than 13 minutes in stage four of the Giro d'Italia.

"The day was not too bad until km 95, the foot of the penultimate climb," sports director Laurent Biondi said. "The race was so chaotic in front with Matteo [Montaguti] and behind the peloton split apart. We quickly found ourselves in trouble. For us, this was a difficult day and a difficult start to the Giro. We must stick together, regroup and start again in a good spiral. Tomorrow it is the first summit finish in Abetone. We will try to take advantage of this to change things."