Italy’s Danilo Di Luca raced his way to a victory on stage four of the Tour of Italy, the first foray into the mountains and where overnight leader Alessandro Petacchi was left trailing Tuesday.

Sweden’s Thomas Lovkvist, riding for Columbia, took the race leader’s pink jersey from star sprinter Petacchi following the 162km stage from Padova to San Martino di Castrozza.

Di Luca, the 2007 Giro champion, edged a furious final sprint to see off compatriots Stefano Garzelli and Franco Pellizotti as the event moved into the Dolomites, ending with a relatively easy 13.7-kilometer climb.

Di Luca, who was born in the province of Pescara in Abruzzo, was quick to dedicate this win to the recent victims of the Abruzzo earthquake.

“Today I wanted to win for my land, the Abruzzo. I’m delighted to have acheived that,” said Di Luca, who at the race is selling pink bracelets, similar to Lance Armstrong’s yellow Livestrong bracelets, to raise funds for the earthquake victims.

Colombian Maurizio Soler looked poised for the stage win inside the last 1.5km until the Barloworld climber was swept up by a closing bunch, finally finishing fourth just ahead of former two-time champion Gilberto Simoni.

American Lance Armstrong had kept pace with the chasing pack until the final kilometer but once at the red flag the seven-time Tour de France champion ran out of juice, eventually losing 15secs on the day.

Armstrong, however, is unlikely to be too concerned.

Competing in his first ever Giro d’Italia with the stated intention of helping Astana team-mate Levi Leipheimer, Armstrong lost no time on the stage, finishing sixth behind Italian Simoni.

“We finished with a big group and I lost 15 seconds, but that is not so much,” said the American.

“Moreover, I needed to make an adjustment to the derailleur. Of course, it was not a very difficult climb. For Di Luca it was a perfect finish with the gradual climb. Basso, Di Luca, Garzelli and Cunego all looked very good. Tomorrow will be a better indication. It will be a long and hard day.

“I am happy with my performance of today. This was my first big climb since retiring. I had a good feeling and no collarbone pain at all.”

LANCE ARMSTRONG RIDING STRONG ON STAGE 4

Italian favourite Ivan Basso, of Liquigas, also remained well in contention, finishing the stage in eighth place just ahead of former two-time Tour of Spain winner Denis Menchov of Russia.

Briton Ian Stannard joined an early six-man break which opened up a half-minute lead at the 10km mark after the race set off on flat roads bathed in warm sunshine.

But the group soon fell back as the going got progressively tougher, culminating in a grueling 70 kilometres of uphill grind.

Only German Jens Voigt, of Saxo Bank, of the early escapees managed to stay the pace and even he was finally overhauled 2.5 km out from the finish.

Petacchi, the winner of stages two and three, began to struggle on the Croce d’Aune going into the final 50km leaving Lovkvist, 25, to hit the front of the overall standings 2sec ahead of 33-year-old Di Luca, who held on for his seventh career stage success.

Spaniard Francisco Perez meanwhile fell after 11 km and was forced to quit the race with a right hand fracture.

Wednesday’s fifth stage is a 125-km ride to Alpe de Siusi which includes a 24.9km climb reaching an average eight percent gradient over the final 10 km.

With Lovkvist in the lead, Columbia now have several tactical options.

Their main pink jersey hopeful is Australian Michael Rogers, who finished only six seconds down on Di Luca.

Standings from the 4th stage of the Tour de France, a 162.0km ride from Padova to San Martino di Castrozza on Tuesday:

1. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/LPR) 4h15min 04sec
2. Stefano Garzelli (ITA/ASA) at 0:00.
3. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
4. Mauricio Soler (COL/BAR) 0:00.
5. Gilberto Simoni (ITA/SDA) 0:00.
6. Levi Leipheimer (USA/AST) 0:00.
7. Thomas Lovkvist (SWE/THR) 0:00.
8. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
9. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 0:00.
10. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 0:00.
11. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR/AST) 0:00.
12. Chris Horner (USA/AST) 0:00.
13. Tadej Valjavec (SLO/ALM) 0:00.
14. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
15. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
16. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 0:00.
17. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/SIL) 0:06.
18. Flix Cardenas (COL/BAR) 0:06.
19. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/GCE) 0:06.
20. Michael Rogers (AUS/THR) 0:06.

Selected
29. John-Lee Augustyn (RSA/BAR) 0:13.
32. Lance Armstrong (USA/AST) 0:15.
35. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/GRM) 0:32.
38. Lars Bak (DEN/SAX) 0:51.
40. Charles Wegelius (GBR/SIL) 0:51.
48. Chris Froome (GBR/BAR) 1:31.
67. Simon Gerrans (AUS/CTT) 3:48.
78. Jason McCartney (USA/SAX) 4:58.
104. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 10:54.
111. Cameron Meyer (AUS/GRM) 10:54.
118. Ian Stannard (ENG/ISD) 18:05.
137. Matthew Goss (AUS/SAX) 19:50.
144. Allan Davis (AUS/QST) 19:50.
151. Daniel Lloyd (ENG/CTT) 19:50.
152. Edward King (USA/CTT) 19:50.
168. Mark Renshaw (AUS/THR) 19:50.
171. Ben Swift (ENG/KAT) 19:50.
185. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 19:50.
187. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 19:50.
192. Danny Pate (USA/GRM) 19:50.
194. Jeremy Hunt (GBR/CTT) 19:50.

Overall
1. Thomas Lovkvist (SWE/THR) 13h05min 28sec
2. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/LPR) at 0:02.
3. Michael Rogers (AUS/THR) 0:06.
4. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR/AST) 0:26.
5. Levi Leipheimer (USA/AST) 0:26.
6. Lance Armstrong (USA/AST) 0:28.
7. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/LIQ) 0:32.
8. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 0:42.
9. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/LAM) 0:42.
10. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 0:49.
11. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 0:53.
12. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 0:59.
13. Chris Horner (USA/AST) 1:00.
14. Felix Cardenas (COL/BAR) 1:00.
15. Thomas Rohregger (AUT/MRM) 1:02.
16. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 1:02.
17. Gilberto Simoni (ITA/SDA) 1:06.
18. Stefano Garzelli (ITA/ASA) 1:09.
19. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 1:11.
20. John-Lee Augustyn (RSA/BAR) 1:20.

Selected
30. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/GRM) 2:03.
34. Chris Froome (GBR/BAR) 2:38.
58. Simon Gerrans (AUS/CTT) 5:36.
62. Charles Wegelius (GBR/SIL) 6:07.
78. Jason McCartney (USA/SAX) 8:22.
100. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 14:03.
111. Cameron Meyer (AUS/GRM) 17:44.
123. Matthew Goss (AUS/SAX) 22:23.
125. Allan Davis (AUS/QST) 22:29.
140. Ben Swift (ENG/KAT) 24:06.
141. Edward King (USA/CTT) 24:08.
144. Mark Renshaw (AUS/THR) 24:20.
145. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 24:32.
148. Ian Stannard (ENG/ISD) 24:37.
156. Daniel Lloyd (ENG/CTT) 25:32.
159. David Zabriskie (USA/GRM) 25:37.
160. Danny Pate (USA/GRM) 25:50.
161. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 26:30.
172. Robert Hunter (RSA/BAR) 28:29.
178. Jeremy Hunt (GBR/CTT) 31:41.

Photo’s by:CorVos Pro