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France 24
22-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Kooij turns on the speed to take Giro sprint
Casper van Uden and Ben Turner rounded out the podium, as the sprinters took the spotlight from the overall title pretenders. The peloton rolled out of the start in Modena, birthplace of car-maker Enzo Ferrari, in first gear at the start of a stage designed for a showdown finale between pure sprinters. The 172km race was decided by the sharp final corner less than 400m from the line as the riders immediately behind Visma's Van Aert on the bend took the top places. "We were waiting for this one, we couldn't have hoped for better conditions and my team did a fantastic job," said Kooij. "We studied that corner." Mads Pedersen kept the sprint jersey as he finished fourth. Alpecin's Australian speed specialist Kaden Groves, winner of the last pure sprint finish, in Naples in stage six, was fifth. Young French sprinter Paul Magnier lost his chain and was in tears, as sprint opportunities are rare on this hilly 2025 Giro. Three days of rain are forecast for the rest of this second week with a hilly stage and flat one and a mountain run coming up. The final week of the Giro will be decisive. Stage 16 has five Alpine mountains for the peloton to enjoy. Stage 20 ends with a gruelling ascent of the Colle delle Finestre to the Sestriere ski resort, the moment when the overall winner is likely to emerge.
Independent Singapore
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Casper van Uden wins Giro d'Italia stage four in Lecce, leading an all-Dutch podium
Casper van Uden successfully gained his first-ever Grand Tour stage win with a sprint finish on stage four of the Giro d'Italia, alongside leading an all-Dutch podium. The Picnic PostNL rider went beyond fellow Dutchmen Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) in a fierce race to win the competition. In a social media post, van Uden shared the achievement to the public and captioned it as 'WE did it!🍾 Massive shout out to the boys for their hard work and all the other people involved. You never win alone 🫶 #giroditalia' Netizens celebrated Casper's win with praise and admiration, calling him a 'golden boy' and saying the achievement was well deserved. One commented, 'Golden boy delivers! 🔥🥇' Highlights of the race This marked the event's return to Italy after three opening stages in Albania. The riders needed to go through a 189-kilometre route from Alberobello to Lecce, which was ideal for sprinters. Spain's Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta) broke away from the pack early on. At about 125km to go, there was an unfortunate crash in the main group of riders, which involved Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock, and Nickolas Zukowsky. Zukowsky, who was racing his first Giro d'Italia, had to exit the race with a suspected broken collarbone. In the final stretch, teams worked together to get their sprinters into position. With this, Casper van Uden made his move at just the right moment and sprinted to the finish, winning his first stage since June 2024. ' I didn't do it alone – we did it with the whole team. All the boys here and all the staff here, and in HQ as well. They did super work. I didn't have to do anything until 200m to go. I had a good sprint and went for it. We've done a really good job all season with the leadouts,' the athlete said of his victory. He added, 'I knew I had to just follow Bram [Welten] and the boys – they did a super good job and I'm really happy to give them something back. I'm not surprised, and I know all the boys have a lot of belief in me.' Van Uden's win is a big boost of confidence for his team, Picnic-PostNL, as they fight to stay in the World Tour. The Dutch team is at risk of being relegated, so the stage victory is very important at this crucial time. Moreover, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) leads, having seven seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in the overall standings. Mathias Vacek, Pedersen's teammate, is in third place, 14 seconds behind.
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Giro d'Italia 2025 LIVE: Stage 5 updates, route and results as Wout van Aert targets first win
The 2025 Giro d'Italia resumes with stage five and the sprinters will have more joy as the peloton takes a 151km run from Ceglie Messapica to Matera. Casper van Uden took a surprise win on stage four, but the short, steep category four climb at Montescaglioso could provide a dramatic finale - and the late climbs could even tee up some heroics for a late breakaway, should they surprise the peloton. The climbs will certainly provide encouragment for pink jersey Mads Pedersen, still eyeing up a hat-trick of wins in this year's race, while Wout van Aert and Corbin Strong could also contend. While Tom Pidcock will hope to make a statement in the race, too, follow for all the latest updates, standings and results in the Giro d'Italia below: Map and route profile Here's a quick look at how today will shape up. Giro d'Italia Stage 5 preview: Map, standings and route to Matera The 2025 Giro d'Italia 's sprinter-friendly first week continues with another outing for the fast men on stage five, this time a trim 151km run from Ceglie Messapica to Matera. Unlike Tuesday's pan-flat stage four, won by the surprise package of Casper van Uden, this one has a sting in the tail in the form of the short, steep category four Montescaglioso climb inside the final 30km. It's a leg-sapping ascent that may eliminate some of the pure sprinters and hand the advantage back to the likes of pink jersey Mads Pedersen, who won stages one and three and was fourth yesterday in Lecce, as well as Wout van Aert and Corbin Strong, who have both performed well on the punchier stages so far in this race. Giro d'Italia Stage 5 preview: Map, standings and 151km route to Matera today It's another day for the punchier sprinters on tricky uphill finish to Matera Flo Clifford14 May 2025 11:20 Good morning Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage five of the Giro d'Italia! We'll have all the build-up and action from today's stage, with another hectic sprint finish on the cards - unless a breakaway can spring a surprise. Flo Clifford14 May 2025 11:16
Arab News
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Dutch rider van Uden springs surprise to win Giro sprint
LECCE, Italy: Dutch sprinter Casper van Uden outsmarted the favorites to win stage four of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday while Mads Pedersen held the overall race lead finishing fourth. Olav Kooij of Visma was in second place and Maikel Zijlaard of Tudor was third for an all-Dutch podium after a nervy mass bunch sprint on a winding and relatively narrow home straight in downtown Lecce, in the heel of Italy. The 23-year-old Van Uden's win comes on his first Grand Tour and he ran around in excitement hugging his teammates as they crowded around him. 'I didn't do it alone. We did it with the whole team, all the boys here and all the staff,' he said. 'I didn't have to take any wind until the last 200m and so I just went for it and hoped for the best,' the Picnic Post NL rider added. Dressed entirely in pink, Dane Pedersen was slightly boxed in on the home straight and had lost his teammates as he himself tried for the win and still came fourth. Lidl-Trek's Pedersen tops the overall rankings seven seconds ahead of pre-race favorite Primoz Roglic. None of the favorites for the overall title lost any time other than the two seconds Roglic gained on all of them in an intermediate sprint. The team however lost a key rider in a late fall with Soren Kragh Andersen crossing the line holding on with one hand. 'The final was really something special,' Pedersen said. 'Wide roads and narrow roads and so on. So a stressful day in the end,' the 29-year-old added. The fourth stage rolled out of tourist town Alberobello, known for its atypical conical roofs, for a largely flat 189km run to Lecce with packed ranks of fans in towns and villages. Lone escapee Spanish rider Francisco Munoz of Polti Visit Malta broke from the flag and rode the first 130km of the route on his own. The 23-year-old would later be caught as he spent the day in the spotlight. A crash at a feed zone brought down Pedersen in the pink jersey, Briton Tom Pidcock and French climber Romain Bardet among others as Canadian Nickolas Zukowsky became the third rider to pull out of this year's Giro. Stage five is a 188km run to the ancient hill town Matera where large parts of the James Bond movie No Time to Die were filmed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Casper van Uden wins hectic sprint finish on Giro d'Italia stage four as Mads Pedersen retains lead
Dutch sprinter Casper van Uden claimed his first Grand Tour victory on his debut at a three-week race as he won stage four of the Giro d'Italia. The first chance for the pure sprinters after a time trial and two punchy days in neighbouring Albania, this was always going to be a fast finale and it was the 23-year-old who came out on top in a chaotic finish in Lecce. His Picnic PostNL squad came from nowhere inside the final kilometre as the peloton jostled for position, with van Uden launching a long-range sprint from 500m out and holding off the day's favourite, Olav Kooij, and Maikel Zijlaard for the win. Van Uden said afterwards, 'I didn't do it alone, we did it with the whole team, all the boys, all the staff back at HQ. They did super good. I didn't have to take any wind until a bit more than 200 [metres] to go, and I know I have a good long sprint. I just went for it and hoped for the best. 'I know I just need to follow the boys. I'm really really happy to give them something back. 'I don't think it's a surprise [win], I know the boys and everyone really believe in me, sometimes I have to find that belief in myself a little bit. This helps.' The peloton had the first of three rest days on Monday and resumed with a flat 189km run from Alberobello to Lecce, with a chaotic and nervy finale on a technical city centre circuit. Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen kept hold of the leader's pink jersey, finishing fourth on the stage, despite having to chase back on after getting caught out in a crash on the narrow, twisting route in Lecce. His squad suffered a blow in the closing kilometres as lead-out man Soren Kragh Andersen crashed with 22km to go and appeared to be hurt, ultimately finishing 10 minutes behind the bunch. Race favourite Primoz Roglic nicked two bonus seconds at the Red Bull kilometre sprint to cut Pedersen's lead over him to seven seconds. 1) Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), in 4:02:21 2) Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3) Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling) 4) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 5) Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 6) Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) 7) Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) 8) Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) 9) Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5) 10) Enrico Zanoncello (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), all at same time 1) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), in 11:44:31 2) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +7' 3) Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) +14' 4) Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +21' 5) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +22' 6) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +25' 7) Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL)+33' 8) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +34' 9) Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +36' 10) Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +40'
