Zukowsky crashes, Moschetti sprints to tenth place

Stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia was the first in Italy itself. In the south of the country the riders took the start in Alberobello for one of the flattest stages of the race with finish in Lecce. Quite early on with only one rider in the day’s breakaway, there was a big crash with several of our riders involved. Sadly, Nick Zukowsky broke his collarbone and is out of the race.

“Everything was okay until the big crash,” sports director Gabriele Missaglia reflects. “We had four riders involved. Sadly Nick, an important guy in our team, had to abandon the race. He broke his collarbone and it was clear straight away he had to stop. I am sorry for him but this is also part of our job unfortunately.”

The race continued to Lecce where a local lap of just over twelve kilometers awaited the peloton. In a chaotic and fast paced sprint Matteo Moschetti finished in tenth place.

“It was a hectic start of the day with that crash,” Moschetti said after the finish. “Nick had an injury and had to leave. I was also in that crash but am okay, only a bit sore. I was still motivated for the final.”

“In the end we took the front at 15 kilometers to go and we had a good position thanks to the boys who did a great job,” Matteo continues. “It was a big fight for position but I was still well positioned in the final kilometers. In the end I missed the legs I think. A tenth place is not what I wanted but it’s like this. I look forward to the next opportunities.”

Stage 5 brings us from Ceglie Messapica to Matera over just 151 kilometers. It’s not the high mountains but it’s a short stage with a challenging final kilometer at almost 8% average.