Stage four of the Giro d’Italia provided one of the closest finishes in recent memory with Arnaud Demare pipping Peter Sagan and Davide Ballerini to victory.

The action had come down to the expected bunch sprint, but the pace Groupama – FDJ and BORA-hansgrohe had pushed over the course of the day meant Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) were both distanced.

That said, many of the pre-stage favourites were still in contention to contest the finale and it was Demare (Groupama – FDJ), Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) and Ballerini (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) who went toe-to-toe at the end. The trio crossed the line within a split second of each other and only a photo finish could decipher the winner.

After much deliberation Demare was eventually awarded the triumph with Sagan and Ballerini having to settle for second and third places respectively. Sagan’s disappointment though, will have been tempered somewhat by him moving top of the points classification.

Joao Almeida (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) meanwhile, was awarded the same time as Demare which meant he retained his grip on the pink jersey, and actually extended his lead over Jonathan Ceicedo (EF Education First Pro Cycling) to two seconds after pipping the Ecuadorian to those bonus seconds at the second intermediate sprint.

Arguably the biggest news of the day came before the start of the stage though, with the news Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) had been forced to abandon due to a fractured pelvis sustained on Stage 3.

Here’s a recap of some of the standout rider data recorded from the race: