Piganzoli extends GC lead with statement TT win on Tour de Luxembourg stage 4

Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) powered to victory in the individual time trial on stage 4 of the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg, extending his lead in the overall standings. 

The Italian was the last rider off the start ramp as leader of the general classification, though TotalEnergies duo Thomas Gachignard and Mattéo Vercher were both within striking distance, just six and nine seconds respectively. 

However, Piganzoli crushed the competition with a standout performance, leading through the first checkpoint, before posting a winning time of 26:49 over the 20.4km course around Ettelbruck. 

In the end, Piganzoli’s winning margin on the stage was two seconds over Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick-Step) in second, while Leo Hayter (Modern Adventure) took third at 18 seconds.

It marks the 24-year-old’s fifth professional victory and third of the season, adding to his stage and GC success at the Route d’Occitanie in June. 

As a result, Piganzoli has strengthened his grip on the yellow jersey with just one stage remaining, leading by 47 seconds over Vercher and 49 seconds over Gachignard.

Andrea Raccagni Noviero produced a blistering performance to move himself into the hot seat, eclipsing the time of Leo Hayter by 16 seconds. 

As the GC contenders began their efforts, it was Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM) who seemed to be the rider most likely to challenge the time of the young Italian. 

Paret-Peintre reached the checkpoint around half a second ahead of Noviero, setting up a tense wait for the Italian to see whether he had done enough for the stage win. 

However, his hopes were quickly dashed by the race leader, Piganzoli, who thumped the times posted by the competition to lead by 14 seconds at the checkpoint. 

While his advantage was slashed in the second half of the time trial, the race leader had done enough to seal the stage honours.