It is the greatest victory of his career. Frenchman Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citroën) won the fourth stage of the Giro on Tuesday at Lago Laceno (Italy), winning in the sprint ahead of Norwegian Andreas Leknessund. The latter took the leader’s pink jersey, which had previously been on the shoulders of Belgian Remco Evenepoel. This is the third success in the career of the 27-year-old Savoyard climber, who used his burst of speed to raise his arms at the end of a mid-mountain stage.
Between Venosa and Lago Laceno (175 kilometers), Paret-Peintre and Leknessund proved to be the strongest in a breakaway of seven riders who resisted the return of the peloton in which Remco Evenepoel, as he had announced, let slip the lead in the general classification so as not to waste too much energy defending it. The Belgian is now second in the general classification, 28 seconds behind Leknessund, and two seconds ahead of Paret-Peintre, third.
“I knew I was faster than him”
“The Giro was my big goal for the year, I prepared thoroughly for these three weekscommented the Frenchman after his victory. Today, I wanted to be in the breakaway. It’s magnificent: we came to win a stage, so it’s great for my team. »
While Leknessund first broke away in the last part of the final ascent, Paret-Peintre managed to pick up on the flat, in the last three kilometers, to win.
“I knew I was faster than him, so I waited until the end to make the difference”added the tricolor runner.
Winner of the Grand Prix de la Marseillaise in 2021 and the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var at the start of the year, Paret-Peintre offers his AG2R-Citroën team its first victory in the World Tour (first division) in 2023.
Leknessund, a young 23-year-old climber, is wearing the leader’s jersey for the first time during a grand tour. “It’s really great, I wanted to win the stage, because I didn’t know if it was going to do it for the pink jersey. I put everything into an attack but my legs hurt so much. It was the goal this morning to take the pink jersey, but cycling is so hard. So it’s just amazing to get there”commented the Norwegian.