Di Luca soars to stage glory

Danilo Di Luca took victory in stage four of the Giro d'Italia, while Thomas Lovkvist claimed the overall lead.

Italian prevails on first day in the mountains

LPR's Danilo Di Luca took victory in stage four of the Giro d'Italia at the summit finish of San Martino di Castrozza, while team Thomas Lovkvist of Team Columbia claimed the overall lead. Di Luca, the 2007 Giro winner, overhauled Barloworld's Juan Mauricio Soler in the closing moments of the 162 kilometre route through the Dolomites from Padova, the first mountain stage of the three-week race. The Italian outsprinted compatriots Stefano Garzelli and Franco Pellizotti to the line, with Soler trailing home fourth. Lovkvist finished seventh on the stage to secure the pink jersey from overnight leader Alessandro Petacchi, who predictably struggled in the high terrain and finished well down the field. The Swede is two seconds ahead of Di Luca in the general classification, with Michael Rogers a further four second back in third. Stage four result 1 D Di Luca (Ita/Team LPR) 4 hrs 15 mins 3 secs
2 S Garzelli (Ita/Acqua&Sapone) "
3 F Pellizotti (Ita/Liquigas) "
4 JM Soler (Col/Barloworld) "
5 G Simoni (Ita/Diquigiovanni) "
6 L Leipheimer (US/Astana) "
7 T Lovkvist (Swe/Columbia) "
8 I Basso (Ita/ Liquigas ) "
9 D Menchov (Rus/Rabobank) "
10 D Arroyo (Spn/Caisse d'Epargne) "