Germany's Lennard Kamna won Stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia and Juan Pedro Lopez of Spain took over the leader's pink jersey as the pair battled to a grueling uphill finish on Mount Etna on Tuesday.

After three days in Hungary, the Giro returned to its Italian roads on Tuesday, as a 14-rider escape group tore away early on the 170-kilometer ride from Avola to Etna.

Richard Carapaz led home a group of overall favorites that included Simon Yates – who recovered from an early spill – a little over two and a half minutes after Kamna sprinted clear of Lopez to win the sixth victory of his career, the second in a Grand Tour after his success in the Tour de France in 2020.

Kamna and Lopez were the last survivors of a 14-strong breakaway that got away early on along the 166-kilometer route from Avola which culminated in a 22.8-kilometer climb to the finish.

Lopez reeled in an early move from Stefano Oldani but was then caught by Kamna with 2.5 kilometers to go. The Trek-Segafredo rider had to settle for second, but had the consolation of taking over the pink jersey from Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman, who had animated the start of the stage with a daring surprise attack, stalled on the first ramps of the long ascent of Etna.

Miguel Angel Lopez, Colombia's main hope in the absence of reigning champion Egan Bernal, abandoned early in the day with a left hip injury.

And things got worse for his Astana team when Italy's own Vincenzo Nibali, the man most likely to inherit the team leadership, was dropped by the peloton on Etna.

Tom Dumoulin, the 2017 Giro winner who took a break from the sport last year, was also dropped towards the finish.

Wednesday's Stage 5 is also in Sicily, running from Catania to Messina with a mountain to climb early on, making another escape a strong possibility.

(With input from AP)