Stage 4

The road

At the start

Into Italy, and a team time trial

The race has flown south and Alexandr Vinokourov is in pink, with Richie Porte on the same time and David Millar one second back. Christian Vande Velde has gone home with a broken collarbone, the second abandon in three days. Thirty-three kilometres from Savigliano to Cuneo, ridden as teams, and the squads that lost men in the Dutch crashes are about to find out what it costs.

How it was won

1. 110 km to go

   Garmin lose another

   Ten kilometres from Cuneo Garmin drop Murilo Fischer, a week that began with a broken collarbone getting no kinder. Sky, driven by Wiggins, set the fastest first split of the afternoon.

2. 2At the line

   Liquigas take the jersey

   Liquigas-Doimo are the only team faster than Sky and they take the stage by thirteen seconds. It puts Vincenzo Nibali in the maglia rosa and Ivan Basso directly behind him, one team holding the top two places on the road to the mountains.

The result