Tirreno-Adriatico 2025 Stage 4 recap - Olav Kooij battles back to take the win on day of crosswind and climbing chaos

Dutchman Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) beat compatriots Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in a slug-fest finale to Stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico, dashing the hopes of the day’s breakaway inside the final 400 metres of the 190km ride from Norcia to Trasacco.

Ben Healy’s opportunistic attack inside the final few kilometres looked to have saved the day for the remnants of the breakaway, the Irish climber from EF Education-EasyPost joining forces with Italy’s Mirco Maestri (Team Polti-VisitMalta) and Denmark’s William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility).

But the plucky trio were swept up inside the final half-a-kilometre before Kooij powered through to take the win – although Maestri rallied for a superb fifth place behind Frenchman Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step). Race leader Filippo Ganna took a solid seventh place ahead of Britain’s Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) on a day the blue jersey’s Ineos Grenadiers team-mates piled the pressure on their rivals with a series of attacks in the crosswinds.

In the lumpy first half of the stage, the attacks were plentiful on the first of two categorised climbs before the day’s break of five riders finally formed ahead of the day’s main test, the Valico La Crocetta. Here, on the 12.4km climb as the rain pelted down for a second day in succession, sprinters Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) were among a raft of riders despatched to a gruppetto that would ultimately come home over 10 minutes in arrears.

Kooij found himself in a group that battled to stay in touch with the main field, which went over the top around three minutes behind leaders Maestri, Blume Levy, Jonas Rutsch (Intermatche-Wanty), Jorge Arcas (Movistar) and Gijs Leemreize (Team Picnic PostNL).

No sooner had the mountain test been completed than Ganna’s team-mates set to work on the front of the pack, with crosswinds on an exposed plain providing the ideal springboard to cause chaos. The peloton duly split into smithereens, with a group featuring Kooij over a minute back. Also missing the split were GC riders Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), as well as fast finishers Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) and Magnier.

The chasers came to within 10 seconds of the main field on the long descent before Ineos once again threw a cat among the pigeons. This time Ganna combined with Belgium’s Laurens de Plus as six riders went clear – including Spain’s Juan Ayuso and two of his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mates.

Although the Ganna group was eventually reeled in, the five escapees still nursed a slender lead of 30 seconds as the race entered Trasacco ahead of two finishing circuits. A puncture for Spain’s Mikel Landa saw Soudal Quick-Step send men back – a decision that ultimately saved the riders stuck in the second group, who were able to finally close the gap with 20km remaining.

With Arcas, Maestri and Blume Levy still up the road, Van der Poel showed his cards on a steep ramp 5km from the finish with an attack that was closed down by Ganna. Healy then used the subsequent lull to make his move, the Irishman joining the leaders and giving the breakaway fresh impetus ahead of the finale.

But the Alpecin and Soudal teams of Van der Poel and Magnier combined to close the gap in the final kilometre, dragging the main field back into contention before Kooij showed his strength with a decisive kick to the line.

After another feisty day in the saddle, Ganna retained his 22-second lead over Ayuso in the general classification, with Italy’s Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) third at 29 seconds, Canada’s Gee fifth at 32 seconds and Italy’s Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) fifth at 34 seconds.

The 60th edition of Tirreno-Adriatico continues on Friday with a lumpy 205km fifth stage from Ascoli Piceno to Pergola, where two short but sharp climbs near the finish should make for another thrilling finale.

The Dutchman kept himself hidden underneath his black rain jacket for most of the day, but powered through on the home straight in the yellow jersey of Visma-Lease a Bike to take a maiden win at Tirreno-Adriatico.

After all that carnage on the road to Trasacco, there’s actually no change in the general classification with Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) retaining his 22-second lead over Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) stays third at 29 seconds, with Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) fourth at 34" and Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) fifth at 36".

"I really fought for it. I thought I made it over the climb but on the plateau we were surprised a bit by the echelons. That put us on the back foot. Sometimes I believed it would come back, other times I really didn’t believe it. The guys did great work and once I was back I knew I had to switch on and go for it. I’m super happy to get a stage win here. The goal was to win a stage and after a fight like today, I’m really happy."

1. Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)
2. Pick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling)
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step)
5. Mirco Maestri (Team Polti-VisitMalta)
6. Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
7. Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)
8. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
9. Giovanni Leonardi (Team Polti-VisitMalta)
10. Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane)

After three Italian wins in a row, it’s a Dutchman who takes the spoils today with Kooij getting the better of his compatriots Rick Pluimers and Mathieu van der Poel.

The three leaders are caught with 400m to go but Maestri won’t give up and opens up the sprint. Alpecin and Soudal bring Van der Poel and Paul Magnier to the front – but it’s Olav Kooij who comes from nowhere to take a hard-fought win. The Dutchman was in that second group with Gee, Yates and Cort for so long – hidden underneath his black rain cape. But the main in Visma yellow comes good right at the death to take a superb win in Trasacco.

The gap is closing and it’s touch and go. Healy is the freshest, but he’s also blown himself up with that attack, so we have three very tired riders out ahead, with the chasers finally closing in…

Healy has injected fresh wind into this break and it looks like this trio may go the distance – unless there’s a collective chase behind. The gap is 10 seconds.

Healy rides with Maestri and Blume Levy – the last two escapees – after Arcas dropped back. The gap is seven seconds and numerous riders are now trying to close them down.

We haven’t seen him all day and that’s why – the Dutchman throws down the hammer on that punchy ramp back into town, and it’s Ganna who is forced to close the gap. Ben Healy then zips clear in a counter-move and the Irishman joins the remnants of the break with a small gap over the pack.

Ah, there’s the blue jersey… Filippo Ganna has been in a black rain cape all day but he’s finally derobed to reveal his blue jersey ahead of the finish. The Italian went early yesterday and that scuppered his chances of the win. But the fact that he still came 10th despite his earlier effort will give him hope in being a factor in today’s finish, especially with most of the fastmen being off the back.

If yesterday’s longest stage of the race was simply about getting to the end, today’s 190km ride has been a thrill-a-minute display of aggressive racing. We’ve had crosswinds, splits, attacks, counter-attacks – and we still have a four-man move with 15 seconds to play with as we enter the business end of the stage.

The fire that has been raging for the past hour or so has finally been put out. Messrs Gee, Yates, Cort, Dunbar and Landa are back in the main field – largely thanks to the pacing by Soudal Quick-Step, who sent men back after their leader Landa picked up a flat. The break is still 25 seconds up the road as the rain continues to lash down on Trasacco.

Below, you can see how one of the escapees - Mirco Meastri - almost came a cropper after the second climb while trying to put on his rain cape.

Mikel Landa is back in the chase group after getting a new bike and it’s his Soudal team who have six riders on the front and doing their best to drag their man back into contention. The gap is 55 seconds now with the four-man break on the cusp of being caught by the main pack. They’re on a short and sharp kicker which could be a great springboard for an attack the next time round as it will come with 5km to go.

It’s gone from bad to worse for Mikel Landa, who has been dropped from the Yates-Gee chase group while he soft-pedals on a flat rear tyre. The Spaniard needs a wheel change but his team car is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, tempers flair on the front of the chase group with Jasha Sutterlin sounding off when a Decathlon rider got in his way.

CORRECTION: It actually appears that Landa was in that first group when he picked up a puncture. He's now in the second group and trying to limit his losses. I thought his post-flat recovery seemed a bit too rapid, so that explains things.

The road conditions are pretty atrocious on this finishing circuit and Jonas Rutsch has just paid the price, losing his front wheel in the grit on a tight corner and hitting the deck. So, the breakaway is down to four riders. They have 30 seconds on the pack, with the Gee-Yates group still another 50 seconds back.

No sooner had the Ganna group been reabsorbed by the main pack than the break’s advantage started to edge out once again. No surprise given the lull behind. The five escapees have just passed through the finish straight ahead of the two circuits with a lead of 45 seconds on the pack. The Yates-Gee group is 1’25" down still.

Our five leaders have just 15 seconds on the main peloton, which has reabsorbed that six-man move of Ganna, Ayuso et al. The Gee-Cort-Landa-Yates group is 1’15" down and going nowhere fast. We could see a big shake-up in the standings today.

It’s carnage out there! The sun shines down but there are grey storm clouds on every horizon – a suitably foreboding backdrop to the current situation as six go clear in a split on the front of the pack. Race leader Ganna is there with team-mate Laurens De Plus while UAE have three riders in Ayuso, Isaac del Toro and Felix Grossschartner. Quentin Pacher of Groupama-FDJ makes up the numbers. They have about 20 seconds on the main back and a minute on the Gee chase group.