Alberto Contador expects 'irretrievable gaps' on Etna as Giro d'Italia GC battle hots up with Simon Yates in second

Alberto Contador expects the battle for pink to kick into life on Stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia and “irretrievable gaps” to potentially be opened up. After Monday’s rest day, the race returns with a mountain-top finish at Mount Etna.

Ad/> Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Fenix) is expected to face a battle to hold onto the leader’s jersey as the top contenders for the General Classification emerge. Giro d'ItaliaGiro talking points: How long can MVDP keep it up? Why Cav has to go to Tour4 HOURS AGO “Tomorrow's stage is important because of how early it will be in the race and the consequences it can have,” two-time Giro champion Contador told Eurosport.

“Whoever is not ready tomorrow can say goodbye to the Giro d'Italia for good on Stage 4 because there are irretrievable gaps.” Van der Poel took the race lead with victory on the opening stage before following up with a second-place finish on Stage 2. Giro talking points: How long can Van der Poel keep it up? Van der Poel expects to lose pink jersey However, he is only 11 seconds ahead of Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) and 16 ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma).

«Van der Poel must be happy to keep the maglia rosa but he must also be worried about the level of big rivals like [Mark] Cavendish or Yates himself,” added Contador. “These first stages are allowing us to see a great spectacle with great moments like Cavendish's yesterday.

Even so, I expect [Joao] Almeida and [Vincenzo] Nibali to step up their performances in stages like Etna and tighten up the general classification.” Stage 4 is 172km in length and features no other big climbs apart from the long ascent up Etna to the finish. Eduardo Chozas, three-time Giro stage winner, told Eurosport: “I think we will see a