Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) soloed to the seventh win of his career on stage 4 of the Vuelta a Burgos, attacking the day’s breakaway over the final climb of the day, the Alto del Cargadero, 17km from the finish.
Caruso left behind a group including Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost) and Ben Zwiehoff (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) from the main break of the stage, which jumped clear of the peloton 20km into the 162.7km stage.
His superior climbing ability saw him quickly pull out a minute’s gap on the steep final section of the Cargadeto, an advantage he’d only extend on the downhill.
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After Caruso's solo ride and victory in Regumiel de la Sierra, there'd be a 1:26 wait for second place, with Costa taking the spot ahead of Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) amid a four-man sprint for the remaining podium places.
Further back, the peloton, which lay three minutes down for much of the final 30km and posed no threat to the breakaway, rolled home at 3:15 after Caruso had crossed the line, with Héctor Alvarez (Lidl-Trek) leading the group home.
With the breakaway riders having no impact on the race's general classification, the overall race lead stays with Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon AG2R L Mondiale)
How it unfolded
The fourth stage of the Vuelta a Burgos, a hilly 162.7km run from Doña Santos to Regumiel de la Sierra, would give the peloton 2,300 metres of climbing to deal with in addition to two third-category climbs – the Alto del Collado de Vilviestre (5.3km at 3.8%) and the Alto del Cargadero (7.6km at 2.9%) – inside the final 40km.
The hills began at the very start of the day with uncategorised climbs filling the first two-thirds of the stage. The first hills of the day provided a perfect launchpad for the day's breakaway.
It took 20km for the break to go clear, with Ben Zwiehoff joined by Damiano Caruso and Rui Costa. out front.
The trio were swiftly joined by Larry Warbasse (Tudor), Javier Romo (Movistar) and Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5), with the peloton letting the six up the road with a 1:40 advantage.
Behind the break, however, José Martía García (Illes Balears Arabay) and Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) attempted to bridge the gap with moves 35km into the stage. The pair struggled to make it across, however, lying 45 seconds off the leaders at the 100km to go mark as the peloton raced four minutes down.
That was the closest the duo would García and Bernard would get to joining the break, however, as they ended up drifting backwards during the mid-section of the stage before they were reabsorbed by the peloton with 60km left to run.
The seven leaders continued, however, carrying a 3:30 gap into the final 40km and over the day's first climb, the Alto del Collado de Vilviestre. Over the top, Caruso picked up six points to move into the virtual mountain classification lead.
Despite Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale chasing behind, the peloton wasn't able to make much headway into the break's lead, with the move still holding three minutes as they raced into the final 20km.
The earlier slopes of the day's final climb, the Alto del Cargadero, played host to the first big moves from the breakaway as Caruso went on the offensive. Zwiehoff went with him, but the German didn't have enough to hang on as 37-year-old Caruso pushed on alone.
Facing the last 17km alone, Caruso held an advantage of over a minute at the top of the climb – where he picked up another six mountain points – while back down the road, Zwiehoff, Oliveira, and Costa led the chase.
It wasn't to be for those men fighting to drag Caruso back, though. The Italian veteran held more than enough time down the descent of the Cargadero to ensure a solo ride to the finish and a first win since the 2022 Giro di Sicilia.
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