Vuelta a Burgos: Mondory wins as Quintana loses lead

Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r La Mondiale) won stage four of the Vuelta a Burgos from Medina de Pomar to Villarcayo after a perfect leadout from his teammate Sebastien Turgot in the final 300 meters of the stage. Turgot hit the front of the peloton and led through two tight corners with Mondory on his wheel. Only Vicente Reynes (IAM Cycling) could keep pace with the Ag2r duo but he was forced to settle for second with Turgot holding on for third.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) lost his overall advantage over Daniel Moreno (Katusha) with one stage remaining in the race. The Colombian is using the event as part of his preparation for the Vuelta a España but was on the wrong side of a split in the sprint. Moreno closed the one second deficit, although he holds the same overall time in the race as Quintana. The Movistar leader did manage to retain his lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

"This is nice. Nothing is decided yet but this leader’s jersey is already a beautiful compensation for my two second places in earlier stages this week," Moreno said.

"José Azevedo told us at the meeting to be attentive to the two corners in the last 500 meters. They could cause a gap in the front group, which happened. I sprinted keeping that in my mind, as a precaution, not trying to cause a gap. Of course when I saw the gap behind me after the second corner, I sprinted full gas. The one second loss for Quintana gives me the overall lead now. Quintana and I are both climbers and not TT specialists. It will be an open battle tomorrow but I am motivated and will defend this jersey. I will start with the idea that I can win the race."

Mondory’s win owed much to a strong overall performance from his team with Tour de France stage winner Blel Kadri jumping clear on the final climb of the 142 kilometre stage. The Frenchman dragged Alexandr Kolobnev (Team Katusha) with him for company on the third category climb, with the pair establishing a lead which peaked at 14 seconds.

The move saw Movistar and the remaining sprinters’ teams sacrifice their legs in a close pursuit on the downhill run to Villarcayo with MTN – Qhubeka prominent in the chase. The catch was made inside the final four kilometres before Ag2r once again took the initiative.

The stage had been marked by a seven man move that broke clear with Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM Cycling), Fabio Taborre (Neri Sottoli), Axel Domont (Ag2r La Mondiale), Ibai Salas (Burgos – BH), Egor Silin (Team Katusha), Miguel Minguez (Euskadi) and Javier Moreno (Movistar Team).

The group held a gap of 2’40 with 72 kilometres remaining but their advantage dropped to 17 seconds with 36 kilometres remaining, with only Salas and Domont persisting. With just over 26 kilometres to go the peloton regrouped before Kadri launched his attack.

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