Ruta del Sol: Greipel outduels Hodeg to win stage 4

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Andre Greipel won stage four of the Vuelta a Andalucia with a bunch sprint reminiscent of the German’s peak years.

After his Israel Start-Up Nation teammate led the peloton around the final corner, Greipel stormed past Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) to win the sprint by a couple of bike lengths.

Behind him, Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) pipped Kristoff to the line for second and third, respectively.

For Greipel, it was a result that marks a continuation of a late-career renaissance, following his victory at Trofeo Alcudia-Port d'Alcudia last week, a result that ended a run of over two years without a win.

Greipel was quick to praise his teammates at the finish, who had the best lead-out in the finale.

"Everyone was dedicated today to make it a bunch sprint. I think we really deserved the win. [His teammate] Alex Cataford did an amazing job with the other two guys to pull the breakaway back. We have shown again with Israel Start-Up Nation that we have a really good, strong lead-out train with really experienced riders, especially Daryl Impey and Rick Zabel."

What made this victory so impressive for Greipel was the standard of the opposition he had to overcome. Whereas Kristoff was the only big name he had to overcome to take victory at Trofeo Alcudia-Port d'Alcudia, this time he not only stormed past the Norwegian but also defeated former world champion Pedersen as well as Deceuninck-QuickStep's Hodeg, positioning himself better in the twisty finale and comfortably holding off their late surges.

Asked whether he can repeat this victory on tomorrow's stage, Greipel was doubtful, citing a late climb as a potential pitfall for him and the bunch sprinters.

"Tomorrow it's going to be a really tough finish, with a climb where the top is just 5km away from the finish.  So it's going to be difficult, but we will see what happens tomorrow."

Those climbs may well be enough to prevent a bunch sprint, but shouldn't trouble Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) as the overall leader, who maintained his leading margin of twenty seconds over Antwan Tolhoek (Jumbo-Visma) today by finishing safely in the bunch.

How it unfolded

The start of the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia was delayed by the riders protesting the safety conditions of the race. So far this week they have been sent on gravel descents, long transitions and pothole-ridden roads, and the riders expressed their dissatisfaction with a unified voice to the organisers and the UCI.

Mark Cavendish was among the day's non-starters. The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider did not finish yesterday's stage and was second-to-last the day before, and it was confirmed by a team spokesman that he was suffering from stomach problems.

He'll have been disappointed not to have been fit enough for this stage, given how its flat, simple parcours offered the first chance for a bunch sprint.

Once racing did get underway after the protest, a seven-man break went clear: Aaron Van Poucke, Robbe Ghys (both Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Benjamin Perry (Astana-Premier Tech), Isaac Canton, Ander Okamika (both Burgos-BH), Jordi Lopez (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Luis Angel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

As the leader of the King of the Mountains classification, Maté made sure to take maximum points over the Alto de Baul, the day's only classified climb that was tackled towards the beginning of the stage.

Determined to guarantee a bunch sprint, the likes of Deceuninck-QuickStep, Israel-StartUp Nation and Trek-Segafredo worked at the front of the peloton to keep the break within not much more than two minutes.

Eager to boost their chances of survival, Perry and Lopez attacked their fellow escapees on a short descent 42km from the finish but were soon brought back.

Canton tried something similar at 29km from the finish with a solo attack, but he too was swallowed up a few moments later.

The gap between the peloton and the break dropped to under one minute for the first time at 21 km from the finish, and once it had dropped further to half a minute six kilometres later, Canton and Van Poucke broke clear from the rest of the break.

The others sat up and allowed themselves to be caught, apart from Van Poucke's teammate Ghys, who resiliently battled to join the leading duo. He joined them 11km from the finish, at which point their advantage was about 25 seconds.

Despite some initial hostile gestures when Ghys first joined them, the trio proceeded to work well together and made the bunch work to complete the catch.

They still had around 20 seconds at 4.5km from the line, when Canton attacked the others, who were by now visibly fatigued. Canton a couple more kilometres before he too was brought back, thus ensuring the expected bunch sprint would decide the stage.