Giro D'Italia 2015: Stage 4 Results, Overall Standings and Highlights

Debutant Davide Formolo took his first win as a professional on Tuesday, winning Stage 4 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia with a beautiful solo finish.   

The 22-year-old spent the entire day at the front of the race and timed his final jump with 10 kilometers left to go, taking advantage of some crucial mistakes by the peloton on a wild and wacky day. Simon Clarke is the new leader in the general classification. The Giro's official Twitter account shared the result of Stage 4:

Here is the full top 10:

Rider	Team	Time
1. Davide Formolo (Ita)	Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team	3:47:59
2. Simon Clarke (Aus)	Orica GreenEdge	0:00:22
3. Jonathan Monsalve (Ven)	Southeast Pro Cycling	Same time
4. Giovanni Visconti (Ita)	Movistar Team	Same time
5. Esteban Chaves (Col)	Orica GreenEdge	Same time
6. Fabio Aru (Ita)	Astana Pro Team	Same time
7. Amael Moinard (Fra)	BMC Racing Team	Same time
8. Dario Cataldo (Ita)	Astana Pro Team	Same time
9. Alberto Contador (Spa)	Tinkoff-Saxo	Same time
10. Richie Porte (Aus)	Team Sky	Same time

Team Sky shared the profile of Tuesday's stage, which was more reminiscent of one of the Ardennes classics than a standard stage in the first week of a Grand Tour:

As expected, the peloton allowed several riders to form an early break in the opening kilometers, with race favourites Philippe Gilbert and pink jersey Michael Matthews sitting comfortably.

Those plans quickly started to fall apart, however. The leading group grew to a total of 16 riders, and when Roman Kreuziger made the jump and joined in at the front of the race, several top teams appeared to realise they made a mistake.

The leading group were working well together, navigating the handful of treacherous climbs the Giro organisers threw at them, and their lead soon passed the 10-minute mark.

As one of Alberto Contador's top lieutenants, the peloton simply couldn't afford to let Kreuziger coast to a big lead in the standings, per sports journalist Richard Moore:

Astana and Team Sky were forced to counter, pushing the pace of the peloton to shocking heights very early in the stage. General classification leader Matthews and points leader Elia Viviani were among those who simply couldn't keep up, a disastrous twist in their respective campaigns.

Team Sky's Twitter account looked on in horror as their top sprinter fell back hopelessly:

Australian cycling legend Stuart O'Grady reminded the peloton there is still a lot of Giro ahead of them:

Astana's tactics ultimately paid off, as the gap to the leading group had all but evaporated by the time the peloton arrived at La Spezia for one final local lap.

Formolo tried to go solo, and with their team-mates mostly spent, it was up to the favourites for the general classification to catch the Italian. Fabio Aru started pushing the tempo, while Contador was completely isolated in the same group.

Rigoberto Uran and Jurgen Van den Broeck both failed to keep up with the top riders, and with both expecting to do well in the mountain stages, Tuesday's stage must have delivered a horrific blow to their confidence. Cyclist Luke Rowe was in awe of what he was seeing:

The young Formolo started the final climb with a 35-second lead and held on in the final kilometers to record his first win as a professional in epic fashion. Clarke won the sprint for second place and took the pink jersey in the process, while Yonathan Monsalve finished third.

Clarke believed he had actually won the stage, something Movistar Team had to share with the world:

"

Sadly not, Simon. @giovisco #Giro pic.twitter.com/aF7fgZDKzD

— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) May 12, 2015"

He later told Cycling News the emotion came from the fact he kept the pink jersey in the team: "You saw the emotion crossing the line. I was just stoked to keep the jersey in the team. I knew Cannondale were just up the road but I just couldn’t hold the emotion in to know that I was going to take the jersey and keep it in the team for another day."

Here's a look at the general classification:

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Time
1	Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge	11:54:48
2	Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge	0:00:10
3	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:17
4	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	same time
5	Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:00:23
6	Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team	same time
7	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	0:00:29
8	Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team	0:00:31
9	Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team	same time
10	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	0:00:37

The current point standings:

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Points
1	Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky	53
2	Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	40
3	Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	35
4	Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team	26
5	Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team	26
6	Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge	26
7	Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge	25
8	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	25
9	Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	20
10	Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Southeast Pro Cycling	20

The mountain classification:

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Points
1	Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha	15
2	Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team	14
3	Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF	14
4	Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida	12
5	Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge	6
6	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	6
7	Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team	6
8	Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team	5
9	Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli	4
10	Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	3

The favourites for the general classification all survived comfortably in the second group, and Contador, Aru and Richie Porte positioned themselves well with an eye on the upcoming mountain stages.

None of them can be happy with how Tuesday's stage played out, however. This early in a Grand Tour, it's vital to conserve as much energy as possible, particularly with this year's Giro profile in mind. Not only is the final week of racing filled with uphill finishes, but the monstrous time trial awaiting the peloton for Stage 14 will be a big test for all of the riders.

There are precious few moments for recuperation during a grand tour, and the peloton will feel the effects from this heavy stage in their legs until the finish in Milan. Fans sitting at home couldn't have asked for a better scenario, but for the riders themselves, things couldn't have gone much worse.