Garmin took control of the Giro with a strong TTT effort.
                                                 Photos: Bettini

American team Garmin won the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia, a time trial held over 33.2 km around Verona, to take control of the race Wednesday. Garmin's Lithuanian rider Ramunas Navardauskas took possession of the pink jersey from American Taylor Phinney of BMC, who had led the race since winning the opening stage time trial in Herning, Denmark.


Taylor Phinney's Giro experience continued to unravel as he mowed some lawn in the TTT.

   BMC, one of several teams to flirt with disaster along the course - Phinney at one point rode deep into a grass verge - finished 10th at 31sec behind Garmin. The 21-year-old Phinney, who is not considered among the contenders for overall victory, is now fifth overall at 13secs behind Navardauskas.

   None of the bona fide contenders for the pink jersey suffered badly on the day.

   Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez, whose Katusha team finished second at just 5secs behind Garmin, snatched 17secs from Czech rival Roman Kreuziger after Astana finished third at 22. Rodriguez also took 21 seconds off Italy's former two-time winner Ivan Basso, whose Liquigas team finished seventh at 26.
 
  Defending Giro champion Michele Scarponi of Italy meanwhile lost only eight seconds to Basso. In the unofficial general classification Navardauskas leads three teammates, American Tyler Farrar and South African Robert Hunter, by 10secs with Canadian Ryder Hesjedal at 11.

   Garmin's best placed rider before the stage was Dane Alex Rasmussen. His chance of pulling on the race leader's jersey effectively ended when he failed to keep pace with his teammates after the first 15 minutes.

   Navardauskas, 24, joined Garmin in 2011 and was a part of the team that won the team time trial at the Tour de France in Essarts.

Results from the team time trial held over 33.2 km around Verona Wednesday:
   1. Garmin 37min 04sec, 2. Katusha at 05sec, 3. Astana 22, 4. Saxo Bank 22, 5. Omega Pharma 24, 6. GreenEdge 25, 7. Liquigas 26, 8. RadioShack 28, 9. Sky 30, 10. BMC 31, 11. Movistar 32, 12. Lampre 34, 13. Netapp 43, 14. Farnese Vini 59, 15. Rabobank 1:01, 16. Lotto 1:05, 17. Vacansoleil 1:10, 18.
FDJ-BigMat 1:10, 19. Colnago 1:12, 20. Androni 1:44, 21. AG2R La Mondiale 1:45, 22. Euskaltel 2:22
   
   General classification
   1. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 10hr 01min 53sec, 2. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) at 10sec, 3. Robert Hunter (RSA/GRM) same time, 4. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM) 11, 5. Taylor Phinney (USA/BMC) 13, 6. Manuele Boro (ITA/SAX) 19, 7. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 21, 8. Sebastien Rosseler (BEL/GRM) 25, 9. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 26, 10. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 30, 11. Brett Lancaster (AUS/GEC) s.t., 12. Matthew Goss (AUS/GEC) s.t., 13. Peter Stetina
(USA/GRM) 31, 14. Daniel Moreno (ESP/KAT) 33, 15. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 33, 16. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/KAT) 35, 17. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/OPQ) s.t., 18. Jesse Sergent (NZL/RSH) 36, 19. Nelson Oliveira (POR/RSH) 37, 20. Dario Cataldo (ITA/OPQ) 37
   Selected: 26. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 40, 33. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 47, 68. Frank Schleck (LUX/RSH) 1:09, 85. Michele Scarponi (ITA/LAM) 1:22, 134. Jose Rujano (VEN/AND) 2:33, 142. John Gadret (FRA/ALM) 2:43