Richard Carapaz took stage four of the Giro d'Italia and Primoz Roglic increased his overall lead after a huge crash struck a big blow to Tom Dumoulin's bid to regain the title on Tuesday.

A smash 4.5 kilometres from the finish held Carapaz up on Monday's stage three, costing the Movistar rider 46 seconds.

The Ecuadorian had very different emotions when he crossed the line in front at the end of a 235km ride from Orbetello to Frascati, claiming his second career Giro stage win.

Carapaz hit the front early in a sprint finish and Caleb Ewan was unable to pass him, finishing second ahead of Diego Ulissi, with race leader Roglic just two seconds behind.

While Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) stayed out of trouble, 2017 champion Dumoulin lost four minutes and four seconds after an accident 6km from the end left the Dutchman with blood pouring from his left leg.

Team Sunweb revealed that X-rays showed Dumoulin has not suffered any fractures, with a further update to follow on his condition.

Simon Yates remains second in the GC standings despite being held up by the crash, but now trails Roglic by 35 seconds.

Vincenzo Nibali conceded 16s to Roglic, now trailing the Slovenian by 39s following a long stage which saw Marco Frapporti, Mirco Maestri and Damiano Cima make an early break before being caught 10.5km from the finish.

 


CARAPAZ RIPS UP THE PLAN TO LAUNCH 'PERFECT' ATTACK

Carapaz took victory on stage eight of the Grand Tour race last year.

The 25-year-old did not envisage that he would double his Giro tally in Frascati, but sensed his opportunity and never looked back.

He said: "I didn't expect to win. It was a long stage with some hills towards the end. Our plan was just to protect Mikel Landa to not lose time but a crash at the end changed everything.

"I was up against sprinters for the stage win so I had to anticipate their action. The moment I chose to attack was perfect."


STAGE RESULT

1. Richard Carapaz (Movistar) 5:58.17
2. Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal)
3. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates)
4. Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0.02
5. Florian Senechal (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +0.02

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) 16:19:20
2. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) +0:35
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) +0:39

Points Classification

1. Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) 68
2. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) 61
3. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) 58

King of the Mountains

1. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) 24
2. Francois Bidard (AG2R La Mondiale) 6
3. Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) 4

NEXT UP

A much shorter and mainly flat ride of 140km from Frascati to Terracina is to come on Wednesday.