Giro d'Italia 2014 - Stage 4

The Giro d'Italia returned to home soil after the rest day with its fourth stage, a 112 kilometre race from Giovinazzo to Bari. Heavy rain was once again blighting the race, making the Bari city circuit so dangerous that the riders decided to neutralise the race. A non-starter on stage four was Marcel Kittel, the big German had come down with fever on the rest day.

Kittel's absence left the other sprinters with a golden opportunity to take a stage win, but the majority of the start of the race was taken up by riders such as Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) and Cadel Evans of BMC Racing Team taking the time to negotiate with race director Mario Vegni to bring about some safety on the stage.

Because of this, the peloton rolled along at tempo, with Orica-GreenEDGE riding on the front to protect the maglia rosa of Michael Matthews, despite the fact that there was no breakaway to chase. Organisers agreed that the times would be taken on the bell for the final lap so general classification contenders could drop back and let the sprinter's teams do their thing.

An intermediate sprint that was won by Elia Viviani of Cannondale broke the monotony of a neutralised stage, but a go-slow was in place until the final lap, when the sprinter's teams attempted to put some excitement into the race. However, multiple crashes blighted the peloton, showing why a neutralised stage was required for most of the day. No serious injuries were reported. 

The peloton fractured, leaving a train of Giant-Shimano riders at the front with a couple of others. They controlled the race until the final corner, when their sprinter for the day, Luka Mezgec, had a mechanical, forcing his lead out man Tom Veelers to sprint. He couldn't keep up with the speeding Nacer Bouhanni however, and the Frenchman took his first grand tour win on one of the most bizarre Giro stages in years.