Giro d'Italia: GC standings after stage 4 - Remco Evenepoel hands pink jersey to Andreas Leknessund

The pink jersey changed hands on stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) conceding the overall lead of the race and Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) grabbing the opportunity with both hands. 

The first uphill finish of the race, at Lago Laceno, was always likely to be the point where Evenepoel considered letting the pink jersey - and all the pressures and commitments that go with it - slip away to a suitable home, and there was duly huge fight for the breakaway. 

Leknessund, who started the day 18th overall at 1:40 down on Evenepoel, managed to make it into the seven-man move that eventually went, and made it down to the final two over the late category-2 climb of Colle Molella. 

He was dispatched by Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) in the sprint finish but had the significant consolation prize of taking the famed maglia rosa, as the reduced peloton finished more than two minutes in arrears. 

"It's super special to be in pink," said the 23-year-old Norwegian. "That was the goal before the stage, but, as everyone knows, it's hard. Cycling is not so easy. To actually make it is unbelievable."

Evenepoel did not speak to reporters after crossing the line, instead riding to and getting straight onto the Soudal-QuickStep team bus. 

After the chaotic opening couple of hours, Evenepoel's teammates worked hard to try and police matters and ended up losing contact by the finish. Ilan Van Wilder, Evenepoel's right-hand man, was dropped on the final climb, leaving Evenepoel isolated in the final kilometres as Ineos Grenadiers looked to apply pressure.

Evenepoel drops to second overall, 28 seconds down on Leknessund, with Paret-Peintre himself catapulting 31 places into third at 30 seconds. 

That meant that Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) dropped two places, to fourth and fifth, respectively, at 1:00 and 1:12. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) both dropped one place to sixth and seventh, both 1:26 down, with all those GC riders still on the same deficit compared to Evenepoel. 

Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) was the other breakaway member to leap into the top 10 overall, rising 25 places to eighth at 1:29. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) therefore dropped two places to eighth at 1:30, with Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) rounding out the top 10 at 1:36.

As well as the pink jersey, the white jersey for best young rider also changed hands, with Leknessund also included in that category. Leknessund will clearly wear pink, while Evenepoel is second but will wear his world champion's jersey, and third-placed Almeida will wear his Portuguese champion's jersey. As it stands, it's not clear who is fourth in the young rider classification and whether they, too, have a jersey that would take precedence over the white jersey. 

In the other classifications, blue jersey Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) extended his lead in the mountains classification after being first to the top of the three cat-2 climbs, the Passo delle Crocelle. He now has 30 points, with breakaway rider Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo) moving to 26 and Paret-Peintre to 22. 

Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) made use of the intermediate sprint to rise 10 places to sixth in the points classification, but there was no change at the top of the maglia ciclamino standings, with Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) still leading the way.

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Giro d'Italia 2023 classifications

Here's a summary of all the ongoing competitions at the Giro d'Italia. Click here for a more comprehensive rundown, including minor competitions such as the intermediate sprints prize and the fighting spirit prize.

Maglia rosa – The pink jersey is worn by the overall race leader on the general classification who has completed the stages so far in the lowest accumulated time.

Maglia ciclamino – The cyclamen jersey is the points classification. Riders accrue points at one of the two intermediate sprints during stages and also at stage finishes, and the man with the most points leads the ranking.

Maglia azzurra – The blue jersey is the mountain classification. Points are handed out to the first riders over certain hills and climbs during the Giro, with the hardest mountains giving the most points. Once again, the man with the most points leads the ranking.

Maglia bianca – The white jersey is the best young rider classification. It works the same way as the maglia rosa, but only riders aged 25 or under are eligible to win.