Casper van Uden claimed his maiden grand tour victory in a sprint finish on stage four of the Giro d’Italia to top an all-Dutch podium in Lecce. The Picnic PostNL rider Van Uden powered ahead of his compatriot Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) in a bunch dash for the line. Mads Pedersen finished fourth to retain the maglia rosa.
After the first three stages in Albania and a subsequent rest day, the Giro returned to Italy in Puglia, with a mostly-flat 189-kilometre run from Alberobello to Lecce.
Following an early break from Spaniard Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta) there was a crash in the peloton with around 125km left that saw Pedersen among those caught up as well as Tom Pidcock and Nickolas Zukowsky, both of Q36.5. The Canadian Zukowsky, making his debut in the event, was forced to abandon with a suspected fractured collarbone.
As the teams looked to keep their sprinters in position in the closing metres, Van Uden timed his move to perfection – securing his first stage win since June 2024.
“I didn’t do it alone – we did it with the whole team. All the boys here and all the staff here and in HQ as well. They did super work,” said Van Uden. “I didn’t have to do anything until 200m to go. I have a good sprint and went for it. We’ve done a really good job all season with the leadouts.
“I knew I had to just follow Bram [Welten] and the boys – they did a super good job and I’m really happy to give them something back. I’m not surprised and I know all the boys have a lot of belief in me.”
Van Uden’s victory also provides a massive boost to Picnic-PostNL’s hopes of remaining in the World Tour, with the Dutch team facing the prospect of relegation.
In the general classification, Pedersen of Lidl-Trek is seven seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) third, 14 seconds down. Wednesday’s stage five is a 151km route from Ceglie Messapica to Matera.
