We’ve got an opening Giro grande (big circuit) and a closing Giro piccolo (little circuit) on the menu for stage 4, for a race total of 118 kilometers.

The start/finish location is Occhiobello and the route profile is pan-flat, with the maximum altitude just 11 meters above sea-level. The sprinters’ teams could barely have designed a more appealing course, so the breakaway specialists will have to do something pretty spectacular to deny the likes of Alé Cipollini (Hosking), Wiggle-High5 (Bronzini, d’Hoore), Cylance (Wild) and Cervélo-Bigla (Lepisto).

And, of course, Hannah Barnes or Barbara Guarischi from Canyon-SRAM who drilled their lead-out train to perfection on stage 3, even if it was the latter who was supped to go for the win.

For the overall contenders, this should be akin to a day off in the middle of the Giro, and a chance to save the legs and energies for the tough individual time trial to come on stage 5.