Euskaltel off the pace at Prati di Tivo

Samuel Sánchez and company was not able to play a meaningful part in Tirreno-Adriatico's queen-stage on Saturday.

The 173km fourth leg from Narni to the top of the Prati di Tivo was pre-race said to become the domain of the strongest climbers on show, and the stage did deliver on its hype. Froome, Nibali, Contador et al. all waged war on each other with the former eventually coming out on top, but none from the orange contingent were able to stay even remotely close to the best on the Italian climbs.

Team leader Samuel Sánchez, making his first competitive foray into the mountains this season, finished a respectable 30th on the day, but was well over three minutes in arrears.

The rest of the riders all crossed the line more than seven minutes down to round off a forgettable day for Igor González de Galdeano's men.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Chris Froome (Sky), 4:41:31)
• 30, Samuel Sánchez, 3:23 
• 51, Jorge Azanza, 7:31
• 53, Egoi Martínez, s.t.
• 55, Robert Vrecer, 9:12
• 72, Miguel Mínguez, 12:17
• 106, Ioannis Tamouridis, 17:16
• 109, Garikoitz Bravo, s.t.
• 112, Ricardo García, s.t.

General classification:

• (1, Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), 16:04:59)
• 31, Samuel Sánchez, 4:18
• 46, Egoi Martínez, 8:26
• 47, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 59, Robert Vrecer, 12:00
• 96, Miguel Mínguez, 17:57
• 101, Ioannis Tamouridis, 18:11
• 129, Ricardo García, 21:54
• 159, Garikoitz Bravo, 27:42

Photo: Orbea