López was in the lead for the majority of the final 13 km after a powerful counter-attack against then-leader Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Fenix). However, Kämna caught the Spaniard with 2.6 km to go. Then a poor turn on López’s part handed Kämna a fairly comfortable victory. Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) who was initially dropped halfway up Mount Etna managed to finish third, 30 seconds behind the leading pair.
“It was a super hard day, especially the last climb, which was really long and really hard,” Kämna said after the finish. “I almost thought I lost it when López had more than 30 seconds. I just made it to the bridge. I just made it, and then I tried to recover a little bit for a sprint and it worked out really well.
“I’m so happy to already have the stage win in the pocket, it’s great to have an early victory for our team, it releases a lot of pressure. For us, everything is on the right way.”
“I’m so happy to take the jersey today,” López said despite looking not happy at all. “I need to enjoy today, tomorrow and every day with the jersey. I don’t know how many days but for sure, I enjoy it day by day. When I put it on tomorrow and every day, I have the jersey.”
Giro d’Italia 2022 – Stage four: Avola to Etna (172 km)
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) – 4:32:11
- Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo)
- Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) + 34 seconds
- Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Soudal) + 2:12
- Mauri Vansevenant (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl)
- Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) + 2:31
- Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) + 2:37
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM)
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious)
- João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)
General classification after stage four
- Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) – 14:17:07
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 39 seconds
- Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) + 58 seconds
- Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) + 1:42
- Mauri Vansevenant (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) + 1:47
- Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 1:55
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) + 2:00
- João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)
- Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) + 2:04
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM) + 2:06
