After his excellent top 10 finish in the sprint in Dublin, Edwin Avila had set his sights on even better result in today's treacherous Giro d'Italia sprint. Like many others, however, he hit the deck in the finale and so it was veteran Leonardo Duque who was the best Colombia rider in the stage.

Those who thought that the move to Italy would suddenly leave Irish rain and bad weather behind was quickly proven wrong. More clouds and showers welcomed Team Colombia and the whole peloton in Giro d’Italia stage 4, the shortest road one with only 112 km between Giovinazzo and Bari.

Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) took the win in the sprint of a group of sole sprinters, after the bad weather and slippery tarmac had convinced the organization to neutralize the race with one lap to go on the final circuit, after the peloton had ridden at a steady pace with no attacks and accelerations through the whole stage.

Team Colombia took another top-15 placement with Leonardo Duque, who ended 12th, but had previously lost a big chance with Edwin Avila, who was one of the victims of several slides in the final lap.

“Jeffry Romero and I had been well placed in the top positions since several laps to the finish," he said. "It only started raining hard into the final lap, and with 1 km to go I was ready for my sprint but the first crash by Giant’s riders had opened a little gap in front of me, and I tried to bridge it right away. Trying to accelerate, I lost grip and hit the ground.”  

Luckily, El Kalimeno suffered no serious consequences from the crash, and had no troubles in finishing his effort.

Avila’s crash also affected Jeffry Romero’s chances, as the latter was forced to open the trajectory into a turn and lost many positions ahead of the final dash: nevertheless, Romero still managed to take 20th on the day.

Tomorrow, the Giro will face the first uphill finish at the end of stage 5, Taranto-Viggiano (203 km): the double ascent to Viggiano in the final kilometres might make some selection, but long-way attacks might also have a chance. Meantime, the weather forecast predicts another rainy day.