A sprint stage with the finish in Andora, not that one, the one four metres above sea level on the Ligurian coast.Merlier earlier: RAIs journalists were on strike for the day but the lack of audio commentary on Italian TV wasnt disastrous given little happened for 98% of the stage. Nobody attacked at the start, even the invited wildcard teams have house sprinters to back.The bunch let the sprinters contest the intermediate sprint in Masio only for 30 or so to get a gap and press on, prompting panic in the peloton. But the move was too big to be cohesive, many top sprinters were up ahead but this meant the group was loaded with riders wanting to sprint at the finish but not drive the pace there.With 4km to go Mikkel Honor attacked the regrouped bunch on the climb up to Fossano and Tadej Pogaar went with him, then Geraint Thomas too. Soon Honor couldnt hold the wheels on the flat and the two GC contenders were away going past the flamme rouge. So much for Pogaar saving energy but both he and Thomas were in the right place thanks to their teams and so why not?In the sprint Tim Merlier switched trains from the left to the right of the road and this was probably the winning move, he jumped onto the right wagon and while others led out, including Tobias Lund Andresen and Jonathan Milan both from a very long way out. Merlier was able to make his final sprint later and was half a wheel ahead on the line.The Route: 190km and if the profile looks pointy goes beyond 1,000m above sea level its still a gentle stage. Acqui Terme has a Latin name that means thermal waters and is still known 2,000 years later for its gushing boiling spring.Its into the hills but for the most part via the main road and alongside a railway line, its all gradual climbing. The defining feature of the Colle del Melogno is the fort at the top and the way the road rides through it.The Finish: another day, another 1.5km climb at 5% with 3km to go. This time its around the Capo Mele, the easiest of the three capes that feature on the coastal road to Sanremo. One difference today is the climb doesnt have the same bends to help string out the bunch; another is that its downhill into town, all on the Via Aurelia road.The Contenders: yesterdays sprint can help hone todays picks but only so far, its hard to extrapolate too much from one outcome. Still Tim Merlier passed the climbing test yesterday, likewise Jonathan Milan. While Olav Kooij was in the mix as was Tobias Lund Andresen but team mate Fabio Jakobsen wasnt.Milan, Kooij, MerlierTLA, Girmay, VernonWeather: cloudy and rainy at times inland with 13C, then warmer temperatures, sunshine and a tailwind on the coast.TV: KM0 is at 12.35pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST. Tune in for the sprint finish.Postcard from Cairo MontenotteText from the Giro describes todays stage, writing the gentle ascent of the Val Bormida leads through charming towns and villages. True but todays route passes through Cairo Montenotte in the same valley. Once a village amid a large plain used for farming, in the early 20th century it was quickly transformed into an industrial base with a giant coking plant and large chemical works.With no coal or iron underground, what happened? They built the worlds longest ropeway in 1912 to take coal from the port of Savona, traversing the mountains for 17km. Today the tall pylons rust while cables and buckets dangle idly in the air surrounded by birdsong and babbling rivers. If the improbable supply of coal from the sky supplied Cairo with raw materials problem is that most of the activity, including the cables, has stopped today. The coke plant, Italys last, still works but only a few hundred workers are employed. Much of the land and buildings around it lie derelict. This isnt in the guidebooks.No more so than with nearby Ferrania, a company that made photographic film and cameras. Its not one building but a complex of factories, offices and even apartment blocks for workers. You might imagine a gradual story of decline, think Kodak faced with digital cameras and smartphones. Only here things seemed to have halted one day in the mid-1990s.The factory gates have a sign saying biciclette a mano (cyclists dismount), ok. Peek into the office by the factory turnstiles and cards are waiting for workers to punch. Push and the heavy door opens. A file rests on a reception desk, perhaps with the days appointments. Dusty sofas opposite allow guests to wait for a manager who will never show up.If a picture is worth a thousand words then local photographer Samuele Silva has visited, documented the site with plenty of pictures and written up more of the history at samuelesilva.net where youll get the vibe.There are some broken windows and kids have got in and left their marks but this is place where time has been frozen from one day to the next. The electricity is cut but you half expect an TV to be flickering as Jan Svorada and Fabio Baldato contest an intermediate sprint in the 1994 Giro. While the Giro speeds toward the coast today, something stopped in Ferrania.The post Giro Stage 4 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.