Villafranca Tirrena (Italy), Frances Arnaud Demare picked up his eleventh win of the season in a fiercely contested bunch sprint finale on the Sicialian coast ahead of Slovakia's Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and the Italian Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck Quick-Step) at the ongoing Giro D'Italia.

In a crazy, messy conclusion to Stage 4 on Tuesday, Sagan opened up the sprint and looked to have netted a maiden stage win on the Giro -- and a first victory in over 15 months -- only to be denied by the in-form Demare's superior lunge. After a painstaking wait, Demare's victory was confirmed as Sagan was forced to settle for second place and the maglia ciclamino, which he took from the shoulders of Italian Diego Ulissi.

It was a difficult day for Ulissi's UAE-Team Emirates after their sprinter Fernando Gaviria was distanced on the day's major climb at the mid-point of the 140-kilometre stage, the Colombian failing to rejoin the peloton despite a prolonged chase by his teammates.

Italians Ballerini, Andrea Vendrama (AG2R La Mondiale) and Elia Viviani (Cofidis) completed the top five as Portugal's Joao Almeida (Deceuninck Quick-Step) safely finished in the pack to retain the pink jersey.

Earlier, Almeida had zipped clear to take two bonus seconds in the second intermediate sprint after an entertaining little tussle with Stage 3 winner Jonathan Caicedo (EF Pro Cycling). That saw the youngster open up a bit of daylight between him and the blue jersey of Caicedo, with whom he entered the stage on equal time in the general classification.

The finish was soured by a nasty crash involving two Vini-Zabu riders who were reportedly taken out by barriers that had been blown over by a low-flying race helicopter in the final kilometre. While Dutchman Etienne van Empel was able to complete the stage, Italy's Luca Wackermann was taken to hospital after the collision.