Maarten Tjallingii entered this year's Giro d'Italia as a domestique for Wilco Kelderman and Steven Kruijswijk but after two breakaways he finds himself in the mountains jersey. The Dutchman hopes to add to his tally when the race hits hillier terrain tomorrow.

Maarten Tjallingii still maintains the blue king of the mountains jersey after today’s fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia still. Due to the lack of climbs, the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM rider only had to reach the finish to keep the jersey, but that was not an easy task. 

The fourth stage of the Giro took the pack from Giovinazzo to Bari, where eight laps of 8.3 kilometres had to be completed. Because of heavy rains the roads had turned slippery. As a result, the peloton wanted to neutralise the race until the final lap. 

The jury respected the decision of the riders and said the times for the overall were taken with one lap to go. There would be no bonus seconds at the line.

“I’m very happy that the peloton has shown solidarity today, a neutralisation was best for everyone,” said Maarten Tjallingii. “I mean, you saw what happened in the last lap, right? 

“I made sure that our leaders were okay when we crossed finish for the second last time and then decided to take no more risks. I’m glad, I made it to the line in one piece.” 

Unfortunately, Jetse Bol didn’t get through it unscathed. The young Dutchman was involved in one of the spills and hit a barrier. He was able to continue to the finish line. 

“Jetse went to the hospital for X-rays,” said Sports Director Frans Maassen. “His neck and back were hurting. “Jetse was allowed to give it a go today and decided to go for his chance, but unfortunately it went wrong.” 

Tjallingii The peloton will face some hills again on Wednesday. Tjallingii hopes to defend his mountain jersey but being a team player he is also aware of his duties. 

“It would be nice if I could gain some more points tomorrow, but it’s also important that we help our leaders. The finish is pretty hard and suits a lot of guys. Many people will want to be in the break, so we could see a good fight.”