Vuelta a Espana: Valverde wins stage 4

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Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) sealed victory on the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana, beating Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) in the tricky uphill finish to Vejer de la Frontera. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) pipped Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) for third.

Valverde bided his time inside the peloton, sitting behind his teammate Nairo Quintana on the run to the final ramp of the undulating climb. He launched his winning move from a long way back, skimming past Roche - who was flagging after an earlier attack – and taking the inside line around the final corner. Sagan was quick to go with the Spanish champion but Valverde’s superior climbing abilities paid dividends and he crossed the line comfortably ahead of Sagan.

“Sometimes it’s our team setting the tempo, like on the first day, today we stayed a bit more calm we know the Vuelta is long and we need to keep strength. We sat with Katusha and they were good but so were we. We didn’t need to accelerate too hard and for the last 200 metres I just flew,” Valverde said after stepping on the podium.

“I knew it was him (Sagan) because I kept getting flashes of his hair. I know in these finishes that Sagan is strong but I knew with 200 metres to go that this was my victory.”

After a predominantly flat day, there was a sharp right-hand turn and the terrain went skywards with just four kilometres to go. Several attacks came off the front but the most concerted of those early moves was one from Pello Bilbao. The Caja Rural rider never got too much rope, dangling in front of the peloton for the next two kilometres.

As Bilbao was reeled in by the efforts of Sagan and the Katusha team, Samuel Sanchez (BMC) immediately countered, taking Roche in his wheel. They were initially helped by a small descent and the pair made it inside the final kilometre but the peloton was close behind and when the road kicked up Sanchez was quickly taken back. Roche pushed on, looking to take the red jersey from Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) but saw any chance of victory, and bonus seconds disappear moments later.

Roche was caught within sniffing distance of the finish line and while Chaves lost time, he was able to retain the leader’s jersey for at least another stage.

How it happened

From the finish in Malaga on stage 3, the peloton travelled down the coast to Estepona for the start of stage 4. At 209 kilometres, it is the longest that the riders will face in the next three weeks. Mercifully for the riders, there would be little in the way of climbing with just a few unclassified climbs to contend with. However, one of those would come just four kilometres from the line. The tight and twisting roads into Vejer de la Frontera would ensure anything but a straight forward sprint to the line.

The six-man break was very quick to form with the peloton keen to keep their energy for the lengthy day in the saddle. Mickael Delage (FDJ), Bert Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Nikolas Maes (Etixx-Quick Step), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) and Markel Irizar (Trek Factory Racing) were the riders who made it away and their advantage quickly grew.

After just 30 kilometres, the escapees had built a lead of over 13 minutes. The team of race leader Esteban Chaves, Orica-GreenEdge – with the help of Katusha and Movistar – worked to manage the distance between the two groups. After peaking at 13:30, the gap was cut by almost half as they reached the midway point of the stage.

In the second half of the stage it was Tinkoff-Saxo that did the majority of the work, no doubt buoyed by Peter Sagan’s victory on Monday. The Slovakian was among the favourites for the stage, even if he had miss-remembered the day’s profile when quizzed about it after his win.

It was a fairly straightforward day in the peloton but a tight corner and smooth roads caught out several riders at 33 kilometres to go. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was one of those involved and the team had to send three riders back to help return their leader to the pack. The incident did nothing to slow the pace of the peloton as they brought the gap to the escapees to just over a minute.

Engoulvent and Irizar decided that they’d had enough and distanced their other escape companions. The duo dangled out in front of the peloton, gaining little over 30 seconds on the chasing pack, and were final caught before the final, unclassified ascent.

As they had been for most of the day, Tinkoff-Saxo led the bunch towards the crucial turn onto the climb. The tight hairpin bend onto the ascent with four kilometres to go meant that position would be crucial. The attacks came almost immediately, with Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) taking his chances near the bottom.

Bilbao was the next to go and managed just over two kilometres out front before he too was brought back with just under two kilometres remaining. Sanchez launched a move on the short descent with Roche quick to take his wheel. Aided by the terrain, they distanced the peloton but once it began climbing again in the final kilometre they found themselves within striking distance.

Sanchez was the first to get caught with Roche holding out until the final two hundred metres. There was nothing the Sky rider could do when Valverde soared past him, with Sagan in tow. Valverde led Sagan over the line with Moreno making it into third.

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