So far, so good. While experienced Giro d'Italia contenders such as Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Cazacustan) and Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo Visma) have already lost their GC ambitions after just four days, France's Romain Bardet (Team DSM) is in the Giro week 3 overall He remains very much in contention for the Giro.

Eighth at the summit of Etna on stage 4, the 31-year-old is currently in 10th place, 2:06 back, just 22 seconds behind key GC contender Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco). Bardet and teammate Timen Arensmen were also well-positioned on the climb of Mount Etna.

"This was an important stage for me," Bardet, who recently won the Tour de l'Alps, told L'Equipe on the summit Wednesday.

"The day after a transfer is always difficult to predict and you never know what the legs will do. But it went well and we have a good team here."

With Wednesday upon us, Bardet had time to reflect on how the battle for the Giro's first summit finish unfolded, which unfolded in slow motion on the Etna climb and a few hundred meters before the finish, Richard Calapaz ( Ineos Grenadiers) concluded with a short, almost symbolic acceleration, he said he had expected a more dramatic GC battle than the battle that ended with a short acceleration.

"I thought it was going to be a bit harder, with the GC riders attacking, but there was a strong headwind at the end," Bardet told a small group of reporters at the start of stage 5. 'It's only the fourth stage, so I guess nobody wants to show their hand too early.' [Ineos Grenadier, with Pavel Sivakov, Richie Porte, and Jonathan Castroviejo at the front, may have been one team that showed some intent. Bardet said, "They wanted to hold the race."

But in terms of personal performance, Bardet has so far taken whatever Ineos, or rather Giro, throws at him and his rivals in Calapaz. Of course, he is not alone in this. But given the other options, he said, such results are always encouraging.

"My preparation for the Giro was going well, so I knew right from the start that I would feel good. So we need to be patient, stay safe and wait for our moment."

"It was good to start a race like this, it's a good thing that we did.

As for when the Frenchman will be back in action, he has already been active in the intermediate sprint of stage 5, taking two bonus seconds behind Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Joan Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

But when it comes to climbing, which is his natural terrain, the significant elevation gain to Potenza on stage 7 looks like a great opportunity, and most importantly, there is Sunday's blockhouse.

"If there is a lot of fighting on stage 7, there could be some gaps," Bardet recognized, "but there will definitely be some real action in the blockhouse on stage 9."