The riders faced a demanding stage in Italy on Wednesday. With two long climbs immediately after the start and several short, steep ascents deep in the finale, the stage promised to be a spectacular one. While Team Visma | Lease a Bike deliberately stayed out of the rainy bunch sprint yesterday, the Dutch team showed its intentions right away on day four of the Tirreno-Adriatico.

Timo Kielich joined the breakaway and built up a significant lead together with eleven other riders. When the Belgian rejoined the already reduced peloton shortly before the steep climbs in the finale, Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s teamwork began to unfold. Kielich positioned Van Aert and Jorgenson perfectly before the final climb, after which the American leader set a strong pace on the Tortoreto.

However, thirteen other riders were able to follow Jorgenson’s tempo. With a late attack, he further increased the chances for teammate Van Aert. In the end, the 31-year-old had to settle for fifth place as Mathieu van der Poel won the sprint from the select group. “It’s a shame I couldn’t finish it off. A sprint in a small group is always tricky. This was a missed opportunity, but I’m proud of the team”, Van Aert says afterwards.

He continues: “I reacted a bit too quickly to the late attacks from Christen and Ganna. That’s where I basically lost my chances for the sprint. We rode a great race as a team. Timo was in the break and then played a crucial role when he dropped us off at the front on the final climb. When you have someone like Matteo setting the pace, you know not many riders will be able to follow.”

Sports director Jesper Mørkøv also saw a strong team performance today. “We were in the perfect position at the right moments - first with Timo, and later with Matteo and Wout. It’s of course a shame that we couldn’t quite finish it off in the finale, but this gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the week.”

“Before the race, I had marked a few stages where there might be opportunities, and this was definitely one of them. That proved to be the case. We can be satisfied with the way we raced today. It was a good day”, Van Aert concludes. Tomorrow, another challenging stage awaits in the Italian stage race, with the riders tackling the Santuario Beato Sante (4.2 km at 6.2%) deep in the finale.