Against a backdrop of stunning scenery high on Mount Parnitha, the fourth – and arguably most demanding as well as decisive – stage of the ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026 came to a thrilling conclusion after 180.9 km of racing.
Twenty-three-year-old Italian rider Lorenzo Masciarelli (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), from Pescara, powered to stage victory, while an even younger talent, 21-year-old Czech rider Václav Ježek of Kasper Crypto4Me, seized the race leader’s jersey.
Everything was decided on the climb to Parnitha, where Masciarelli gradually reeled in the Swatt Club duo of Mads Andersen and Nicolò Petitti before crossing the finish line solo to secure the biggest win of his career to date. Petitti followed 28 seconds later, visibly disappointed, while Ježek finished third on the stage, 1 minute and 44 seconds behind the winner, but crucially collected a four-second time bonus.
Having already secured the Best Young Rider jersey, the young Czech rider also pulled on the overall leader’s jersey, proving the strongest among the general classification contenders on the day.
“I’m really proud of our team. We did an amazing job today. Throughout the stage, I always had teammates around me, and before the final climb they helped me as much as they could. After that, it was up to me to give everything. I felt really strong at the beginning of the climb. There was still a group of around 20 riders, but little by little the group split apart. I stayed near the front and did my best to hold my position” said Ježek and added:
“It was definitely a very tactical stage. I was constantly hearing information from the team manager, and he gave me really valuable guidance throughout the race. In the end, I’m very happy with the result. As for tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see with the team. We have a sprinter, and we hope we can finally win a stage. Yesterday I finished second, today third, so no victory for me yet, but right now I’m leading the GC, and I’m really proud of that”.
The winner of the stage, Masciarelli explained his team’s tactics:
“I’m really proud of our team. We did an amazing job today. Throughout the stage, I always had teammates around me, and before the final climb they helped me as much as they could. After that, it was up to me to give everything. I felt really strong at the beginning of the climb. There was still a group of around 20 riders, but little by little the group split apart. I stayed near the front and did my best to hold my position.
It was definitely a very tactical stage. I was constantly hearing information from the team manager, and he gave me really valuable guidance throughout the race. In the end, I’m very happy with the result. As for tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see with the team. We have a sprinter, and we hope we can finally win a stage. Yesterday I finished second, today third, so no victory for me yet, but right now I’m leading the GC, and I’m really proud of that”.
Local hero Giannoutsos was extremely happy with his performance in the place he usually trains:
“I managed to get into the breakaway group, I felt strong and wanted to fight for the Avance Mile. I’m very happy that I achieved it, as well as with my final position in the stage classification. We were racing on the roads where I train every day in Athens, and that gave me a very special feeling. It gave me extra motivation and I’m happy I was able to deliver. There is still one difficult stage left, and together with the national team we will try to enjoy the race and achieve the best possible result.”
The holders of the points and mountain classification jerseys didn’t change as Kristians Belohvosciks and Loïc Bettendorff of Hrinkow Advarics defended their positions.
“Today was quite hard for me. I could still feel yesterday’s effort in my legs because it was a very long stage. But after my performance yesterday, I was happy to take enough points to keep the jersey until the end, and I’m really pleased with that”, said Belohvosciks, while Bettendorff added:
“After the effort I made today to extend my lead in the points classification, I’m confident I can keep the jersey until the end. I knew I had to be in the breakaway to secure those points, which isn’t the easiest task for a rider like me, but I managed to make it. It was a very hard stage with a really high pace all day, and the seven-minute gap we had over the peloton at the climb showed just how strong the breakaway was. We never slowed down at any point.
Race Summary
Under the blue skies of Atalanti, large crowds gathered to welcome the 94 riders still remaining in the demanding and exciting ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026.
Attacks came immediately from kilometre zero, with five riders breaking clear early on: Mads Andersen (Swatt Club), Kristians Belohvosciks (Bike Aid), Nicolò Petitti (Swatt Club), Zétény Szijártó (Team United Shipping), and Greek rider Miltiadis Giannoutsos.
Soon after, Jordi López Caravaca (Euskaltel–Euskadi), Lorenzo Masciarelli (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), Nahom Efrem (Bike Aid), and Lorenzo Ginestra (Swatt Club) bridged across, forming a nine-man breakaway group.
Back in the peloton, no team appeared willing to reveal its tactics in the opening kilometres, and the transition from the coastal roads into the inland regions of Phthiotis and Boeotia passed without major developments.
The first intermediate sprint came in Aliartos with 108 km remaining, followed by a second sprint 21 km later in Thebes, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements. Belohvosciks, Efrem and Masciarelli collected 6, 4 and 2 points respectively at both sprints, allowing the Latvian Bike Aid rider to strengthen his lead in the sprint classification.
From Thebes onwards, the road began to rise gradually, serving as a warm-up for the day’s decisive climbing action. Meanwhile, the breakaway advantage had stretched to four minutes, and later to six after Miltiadis Giannoutsos claimed the Avance Miles bonus.
In the peloton, Unibet Rose Rockets – reduced to five remaining riders – once again took control of the pace, determined to protect race leader Jelle Johannink.
With 43.4 km to go, the breakaway riders reached the first KoM of the day (Category 2), where Giannoutsos, Szijártó, Efrem and Petitti collected 6, 4, 2 and 1 mountain points respectively.
A final downhill section then offered the leaders brief respite before the brutal ascent to Mount Parnitha began.
Through the central roads of the Municipality of Acharnes, the Swatt Club pairing of Andersen and Petitti accelerated sharply, with only Masciarelli able to follow. Behind them, Efrem and Ginestra were involved in a crash but remounted quickly and continued together as a second chasing group.
The leaders negotiated the narrow streets of Menidi safely, but several crashes occurred when the peloton passed through the same section.
With 10 km remaining, Domenico Pozzovivo (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) launched his attack, clearly targeting the general classification jersey. Václav Ježek and Colin Chris Stüssi (Team Vorarlberg), both still in contention for overall victory at the ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026, responded immediately and surged past the Italian veteran. At the same moment, Johannink appeared unable to follow and defend his leader’s jersey.
At the front of the race, the battle for the stage win was reduced from three riders to two as Andersen lost contact. With 3 km remaining, Masciarelli attacked alone and maintained his advantage all the way to the finish arch in front of the Parnitha Casino, also taking maximum points at the second ΚοΜ, a Category 1 climb.
The decisive battle, however, unfolded in the general classification contest, where Ježek emerged as the day’s major winner. By finishing third behind Petitti, the Czech rider secured the valuable four-second time bonus and with it the overall leader’s jersey of the Greek Tour.
Ježek now holds the advantage heading into the final stage and is well placed to secure overall victory in this year’s Tour of Hellas, provided he delivers a controlled ride in Stage 5, which will start at 10:30 from Piraeus and is expected to finish around 14:00 in front of Syntagma Square.
