Australian Hamilton wins Tirreno stage 4, Woods retains lead

ROME: Australian cyclist Lucas Hamilton won Thursday’s fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico while Michael Woods kept the overall leader’s blue jersey as the race ventured into the mountains.

Canadian Woods finished 10 seconds adrift of Hamilton in Cascia on a stage which featured the highest point of the race — 1,521 metres at Rifugio Perugia.

Woods, who rides for the EF Pro Cycling team, was at the front of a group including overall favourites Geraint Thomas, Rafal Majka and Simon Yates.

Jakob Fuglsang and Vincenzo Nibali, like Thomas another former Tour de France winner, both lost over a minute after failing to keep up on the 194km route from Terni.