Bouhanni wins wet fourth stage to end French drought

Sprint specialist Nacer Bouhanni survived a puncture to end athree-year drought for French cyclists and win a rainy fourth stage of the Girod'Italia on Tuesday.FDJ.fr rider Bouhanni, 23, overcame a puncture on the penultimate lap after the112km run from Giovinazzo to Bari to sprint to victory ahead of Italy's GiacomoNizzolo and Dutch rider Tom Veelers.Bouhanni's task had been made significantly easier when Germany's Marcel Kittel, who had won two of the first three stages in Ireland, was unable to start the stagebecause he was running a fever.   Australia's Michael Matthews finished among the leading group in 49th position toretain the leader's pink jersey, after the first stage of the race on Italian soil."This is my first stage win in a grand tour," said a jubilant Bouhanni after abreakthrough season in which he has notched up six wins in 2014."It is also a relief! Now, I have the (red) jersey of the points classification and I willdo everything possible to keep it. But I will mostly concentrate on the sprints, this iswhat brings the most points."Bouhanni becomes the first Frenchman since John Gadret in 2011 to prevail on theGiro.But rain made conditions extremely difficult for riders resulting in organisersdeciding not to allocate bonus times on the final 8.3km lap around Bari because ofthe dreadful weather."It was really dangerous on every corner. It was agreed with the majority of thepeloton, it's only right," said Bouhanni."The roads were very slippery and it became very dangerous in the last lap. Therewas a big fall at 3km and I almost fell, I hit the pavement."I punctured the front wheel and I broke my rear wheel."I took the last corner in third place behind (Luka) Mezgec who slipped a bit. I alsoslipped a little, there was a break and I gave everything to catch up with the leaders (Veelers)."Kittel, who won stages in Belfast and Dublin, said he was disappointed not to beable to continue his title push."I am very disappointed about leaving the Giro after such a strong start in goodcondition, but I do not feel healthy and I am not in the position to start the race inthis condition," said Kittel, who rides for the Giant-Shimano team.Wednesday's fifth stage covers 203km between Tarente and Viggiano, concludingwith a 5km climb. Source: AFP