Tour of Sicily 2021 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

October 1, 2021

Tour of Sicily 2021 – Stage 4 – Sant’Agata di Militello – Mascali : 180 km

The Giro di Sicilia is a four-day stage race held entirely on, you guessed it, Sicily – an island in the Mediterranean Sea just south of Italy. The race is one of the oldest on the cycling calendar, having hosted its first edition way back in 1907. Despite being so old, the race has only run 24 times and has experienced a number of long hiatuses. The longest of these was between 1977 and 2019. In 2019 the race was revived, and assigned a 2.1 rating by the UCI, placing it firmly alongside other third tier stage races. Since being revived the Giro di Sicilia has only hosted one edition, but it’s back this year and promises to be bigger and better than ever. This year’s race will follow a slightly different route, with four unpredictable medium-mountain stages that’ll suit the all-rounders.

Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) broke down in tears after winning the final stage of the Giro di Sicilia and snatching overall victory from Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

The 36-year-old from Messina attacked on the key climb of the stage on the slopes of Mount Etna with 22km to go and never looked back.

He cracked chaser Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Valverde was unable to stop the gap opening to 40 seconds at the summit of the Sciara di Scorciavacca climb. Nibali knew every corner of the fast descent to the finish and extended his lead to 49 seconds.

He waved to the crowds as he reached the finish and broke into tears as he realised he had won his home race, close to his hometown of Messina, and won his first race for Trek-Segafredo after over two years without a victory. It was also his first professional victory in Sicily.

Simone Ravanelli (Androni Giocattoli) won the sprint for second, with Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) third. Nibali won the overall classification by 46 seconds, beating Valverde, with Covi third overall at 49 seconds.

The 180km stage saw Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) go on the attack with a small group after a puncture cost him time on stage 3. They opened a 1:30 gap on the peloton on the Portella Mandrazzi climb on the slopes of Etna but were pulled back and the race came back together before the final climb.

Nibali attacked alone and seemed unable to get more than a hundred metres on his rivals but then he accelerated again and Valverde – still recovering after fracturing his collarbone at the Vuelta a Espana – was unable to bring him back.

Nibali dived down to the finish, unable to hold back the emotions of winning at home.

“I cracked emotionally because this is my first win in Sicily. I grew up riding on these roads with my dad and my young teammates but then moved away to chase my dreams when I was a teenager. It’s always emotional to come back and especially to win,” Nibali explained.

“I’ve had a lot of physical problems recently and so to win here wasn’t easy. But seeing my family and friends makes it all special and difficult to hold back my emotions. I knew the roads well, especially the final descent, even if I messed up a corner due to all the emotions but it was a special moment in my career.

“I returned to racing at the Tour of Luxembourg after 20 days of training in Sicily in August. I felt good there and so it was even better here. Now we’ll see what we can do in the Italian one-day races. I’m focused on Il Lombardia, it’s an important race for me.”

Results :
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 4:24:29
2 Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:49
3 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
4 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
5 Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
6 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
7 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
8 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
9 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM
10 David de la Cruz (Spa) UAE Team Emirates
11 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
12 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
13 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
14 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
15 Mattia Bais (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:09
16 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
17 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
18 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:03:02
19 Marco Tizza (Ita) Amore e Vita
20 Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
21 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
22 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:08
23 Daniel Muñoz Giraldo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
24 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
25 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation 0:05:09
26 Alessio Martinelli (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
27 Raul Colombo (Ita) IWD
28 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling
29 Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:06:27
30 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:07:02
31 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
32 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
33 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:08:25
34 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:09:43
35 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:11:01
36 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
37 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM
38 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
39 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
40 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
41 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
42 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
43 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:41
44 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
45 Asbjorn Hellemose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
46 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:13:21
47 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
48 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
49 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
50 Giacomo Garavaglia (Ita) IWD
51 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
52 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
53 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Giotti Victoria-Savini Due 0:13:26
54 Alastair Mackellar (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:16:08
55 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
56 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
57 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
58 Unai Iribar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
59 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
60 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Rally Cycling 0:17:23
61 Mason Hollyman (GBr) Israel Cycling Academy
62 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
63 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
64 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
65 Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team
66 Nathan Brown (USA) Rally Cycling
67 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:20:44
68 Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates
69 Ben King (USA) Rally Cycling 0:21:50
70 Charles-Etienne Chretien (Can) Rally Cycling
71 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
72 Matteo Zurlo (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior 0:27:14
73 Paolo Totò (Ita) Amore e Vita
74 Mattia Benedetti (Ita) Amore & Vita Prodir
75 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
76 Kristian Javier Yustre Rodriguez (Col) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
77 Edoardo Faresin (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior
78 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
79 Samuele Rivi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
80 Alberto Serrano (Spa) Caja. Rural-Seguros RGA
81 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
82 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:30:14
83 Giacomo Cassara (Ita) Amore & Vita Prodir 0:30:50
84 Adriano Brogi (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due 0:32:27
DNF Jacopo Cortese (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNF Niccolò Salvietti (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNF Nicola Plebani (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNF Samuel Quaranta (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNF Giovanni Bortoluzzi (Ita) Work Service-Marchiol-Dynatek
DNF Stefano Di Benedetto (Ita) IWD
DNF Francesco Zandri (Ita) IWD
DNF Alex Tolio (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior
DNF Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team DSM
DNF Luca Colnaghi (Ita) Bardiani-CSF-Faizane
DNF Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Jhojan Garcia Susa (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Iker Ballarin Manso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
DNF Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Nicolas Nesi (Ita) D’Amico um Tools
DNF Daniel Smarzaro (Ita) D’Amico um Tools
DNF Paolo Simion (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNF Emanuele Onesti (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNF Fabio di Guglielmo (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNF Francesco Carollo (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNF Paul Wright (NZl) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNF Sergio Meris (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNF Luca Rastelli (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNF Federico Burchio (Ita) IWD
DNF Eric Paties Montagner (Ita) IWD
DNF Stefano Gandin (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior
DNF Riccardo Verza (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior
DNF Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Samuele Zambelli (Ita) Iseo-Rime-Carnovali
DNF Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Manuel Belletti (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Jokin Aranburu Arruti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Maksym Bilyi (Ukr) D’Amico um Tools
DNF Lorenzo Quartucci (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior
DNF Emil Dima (Rom) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNF Andrea Guardini (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNF Francesco Di Felice (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNF Paul Double (GBr) Mg.k Vis VPM
DNS Kamil Gradek (Pol) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM

Final General Classification :
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 18:09:50
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:46
3 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:49
4 Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:55
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM 0:00:58
6 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:59
7 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM
8 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
9 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
10 Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:03
11 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:09
12 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
13 David de la Cruz (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:31
14 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:33
15 Mattia Bais (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:19
16 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:46
17 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:53
18 Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:03:08
19 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:03:22
20 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:03:39
21 Marco Tizza (Ita) Amore e Vita 0:03:46
22 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:28
23 Daniel Muñoz Giraldo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:04:45
24 Alessio Martinelli (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan 0:05:19
25 Raul Colombo (Ita) IWD 0:06:06
26 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation 0:06:37
27 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:07:12
28 Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:07:50
29 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:11:10
30 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:11:13
31 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:11:21
32 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:11:25
33 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:32
34 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:11:53
35 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:12:01
36 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM 0:12:48
37 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:14:05
38 Asbjørn Hellemose (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:10
39 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:14:38
40 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
41 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:15:52
42 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:17
43 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling 0:16:34
44 Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team 0:17:43
45 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Giootti Victoria-Savini Due 0:18:25
46 Nathan Brown (USA) Rally Cycling 0:18:30
47 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM 0:19:08
48 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:19:11
49 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM 0:20:21
50 Unai Iribar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:20:59
51 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
52 Mason Hollyman (GBr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:02
53 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:22:26
54 Ben King (USA) Rally Cycling 0:24:19
55 Giacomo Garavaglia (Ita) IWD 0:24:46
56 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
57 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
58 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:27:12
59 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:27:14
60 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:28:48
61 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:31:53
62 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan 0:32:21
63 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
64 Charles-Étienne Chretien (Can) Rally Cycling) 0:33:13
65 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team 0:33:15
66 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:33:36
67 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Rally Cycling 0:34:58
68 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:36:06
69 Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:36:37
70 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:36:53
71 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:38:39
72 Kristian Javier Yustre Rodriguez (Col) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
73 Alastair Mackellar (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:38:53
74 Samuele Rivi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:40:18
75 Matteo Zurlo (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior 0:43:24
76 Alberto Serrano (Spa) Caha Rural-Serguros RGA 0:43:27
77 Paolo Totò (Ita) Amore e Vita
78 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
79 Edoardo Faresin (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior
80 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
81 Mattia Benedetti (Ita) Amore & Vita Prodir 0:45:22
82 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:46:27
83 Adriano Brogi (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due 0:48:40
84 Giacomo Cassara (Ita) Amore & Vita Prodir 0:48:58