Vuelta a España stage 4 LIVE – Race enters France as the race heads through the Alps

The pace in the peloton has been dramatically upped by Lidl-Trek and a minute is immediately sliced off the gap to the break.

Abandon

Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep)

Shock abandon after the Frenchman moved into the top 10 yesterday. His team announce that he leaves due to illness.

160km to go

The gap has grown again to almost three and a half minutes between the peloton and the breakaway.

The race now descends to Briançon. A place that now has a rare accolade of being able to say it has hosted all three Grand Tours with the Tour de France being a regular but also the Giro d'Italia has visited before as well.

It is all to play for in the battle for red today with a huge chance for Gaudu to take it from Vingegaard.

❤️ The battle for Red is close in time. Now the placement on the stage will decide 👀 Who will wear it at the end of the day? ❤️ La lucha por La Roja está que arde. El 𝑝𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜́𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑜, decisivo 👀 #LaVuelta25

— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T10:59:45.200Z

The riders now have their first proper descent of the race with around 8km of downhill before the road starts rising again towards the Col du Lautaret.

La Vuelta enters France. The race waves goodbye to Italy and starts to make it's way west towards Spain tomorrow.

KoM (Montgenévre)

1. Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) 5pts
2. Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) 3pts
3. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) 1pt

Nicolau misses out on going level on points with KoM leader, Alessandro Verre (Arkea-B&B Hotels).

The gap has stopped decreasing again and is staying at around 2'50".

170km to go

The riders are about to go over the top of the Montgenévre climb.

The peloton is being controlled by the expected teams of Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck as they try and set up their sprinters, Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen.

The race is in it's final few kilometres on Italian soil before going into France.

Abandon

Carlos García Pierna (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)

The Spanish rider has had to step off the bike as he can go no further. He is the fourth rider to leave the race after Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Zingle (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Jorge Arcas (Movistar) left yesterday.

The break are working well together but their advantage is decreasing with 2'45" now splitting them and the peloton.

The riders are about to start the second climb of the day, the Montgenévre. This is a category 2 climb that is 8.3km long and has an average gradient of 6.1%. There are 5, 3 and 1 point(s) available at the top. Also, as they go over the top, they will enter France.

180km to go

The gap has stabilised between the breakaway and the peloton at 3'15".

🏁 - 183 km | Stage 4️⃣ - Etapa 4️⃣ 5️⃣ riders are in the break at the head of the race! ¡5️⃣ corredores en cabeza de carrera! 🇧🇪 Louis Vervaeke 🇪🇸 Mario Aparicio 🇪🇸 Joel Nicolau 🇺🇸 Sean Quinn 🇧🇪 Kamiel Bonneu ⏱️3'11" Peloton #LaVuelta25 #VueltaLIVE

— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T10:27:07.507Z

The last time La Vuelta had a stage finish in France it was won by a certain Jonas Vingegaard on the Col du Tourmalet in 2023. Now he wears the red jersey of race leader.

La Vuelta will be soon heading into France for the 13th time in it's history. The first time was back in 1955 with a stage from San Sebastián to Bayonne, won by Frenchman Gilbert Bauvin.

It is a sunny day for the riders with a very pleasant 18°c in the mountains and next to no wind to speak of either.

The race seems to have settle down with the gap steadily increasing. The riders are climbing but are not yet on the official climb of Montgenévre.

The gap continues to extend with it now almost at three minutes between the break and the peloton as they head to the Montgenévre climb.

Aparicio is the best placed rider in the break at just 47" behind Vingegaard. Vervaeke is at 53", Bonneu at 1'37", Quinn at 9'49" and Nicolau at 13'09".

A gap of just under a minute and a half splits the break and the peloton as it appears they have been allowed to go clear.

That sees Nicolau take his first KoM points of the race and slots him straight into third place in the standings. A big opportunity for the Spanish rider to take a jersey today with a maximum of 13 points on offer.

KoM (Exilles)

1. Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) 3pts
2. Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) 2pts
3. Mario Aparicio (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) 1pt

Leaders:

Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep)
Mario Aparicio (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost)
Kamiel Bonneu (Inetermarche-Wanty)
Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)

They have 30" on the chasing pack.

A new move comes again as a likely dash for the KoM points at the top of the Exilles climb. There are 3, 2 and 1 point(s) available.

That move is also brought back as the race nears the top of the Exilles climb.

A new move goes clear with a small gap on the pursuing bunch.

That attack by Van der Lee is successful only in a sense that it has dragged the whole break back into the peloton's clutches and the fight starts over again.

Another attack in the peloton...

Jardi van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost)

The Dutch rider has his teammate, Nururkar, up the road already but they are looking to get another rider to the front. He crashed yesterday with XDS-Astana's Harold Lopez but appears unaffected.

Nururkar bridges to the four leaders making it five in front with a gap of 25" on the peloton.

200km to go

The few KMs are ticked off as the race is climbing in the Italian Alps as they head to the French border.

One rider in the chase is young Briti, Lukas Nururkar (EF Education-EasyPost). He is about equidistant between the peloton and break at 8" in both directions.

The peloton don't seem too happy to let the four man break go just yet with around 15 to 20 seconds between the them.

Onto the first climb of the day, the 5.6km long category 3 Exilles climb which has an average gradient of 5.6%.

Attack!

Jonas Gregaard (Lotto)
Kelland O'Brien (Jayco-AlUla)
Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)
Simone Petilli (Intermarche-Wanty)

They have 10" on the peloton at the moment.

206.7km to go

The start is given and the racing begins on stage four of La Vuelta 2025!

💥 Here is the real start of stage 4️⃣, and the action starts immediately! 💪 ¡Salida lanzada de la etapa 4️⃣... que empieza con ataque ! 👋 Grupo Empresa Enfersa-Fertiberia Avilés | #LaVuelta25 #VueltaLIVE

— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T09:52:02.660Z

It is a double British birthday today with Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) turning 24 and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) turning 25.

🎂 We have two birthday boys in #LaVuelta25 today! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños, chicos! 🥳 Ben Tulett & Ethan Vernon 🥳

— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T09:31:22.012Z

Vingegaard is ready for the fourth stage of La Vuelta but will he be in red by the end of today?

Gaudu could get bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint today with 6, 4 and 2 seconds availabl. But, the rider on the same time as the race leader just needs to finish 4 places in front of the Dane to take the race lead from him.

Neutral start

The riders begin the roll out of Susa and head for the Alps with a 6.1km long neutralized section.

In the past, this would not have been a day for the sprinters but the sport has changed and now sprinters are much more versatile and capable of getting over some huge climbs in pursuit of victory.

After the Lautaret, though, there is a very long descent that takes the riders from around 130km to go to around 50km to go and aside from one little lump, it is almost entirely flat after that to Voiron.

After that there is a descent for the riders to recuperate and maybe relax before more false flat heading to the Col du Lautaret, the highest point of the day at just over 2000 metres. The category two climb is 13.8km long and has an average gradient of 4.3%.

After the Exilles the road doesn't really descent much as they tackle false flat to the next climb, the category two Montgenévre where the race enters France with the 8.3km climb having an average gradient of 6.1% and a peak altitude of over 1800 metres.

The start of the first climb today comes after just 4km with the category three Exilles climb. 5.6km with an average gradient of 5.6%.

Neutral start is due in just 10 minutes.

The riders are signed on and ready to go on the fourth stage of the 2025 La Vuelta with the stage starting in Susa and heading over 206.7km to Voiron.

The jerseys today:

Red, GC - Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Green, Points - Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)*
Polka dots, KoM - Alessandro Verre (Arkea-B&B Hotels)
White, U25 - Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

*Worn by - Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)

The race leaves Italian soil today just before the top of the second climb on the stage, the Montgenévre. Then the race has it's one and only day in France before finally making it to Spain tomorrow.

However, more international visits await with Andorra and Portugal also on the menu in the next three weeks.

Vingegaard took part in yesterday's uphill sprint and took third but was also up there in the intermediate sprint as the Danish star looks for bonus seconds and his top shape...

>>> 'Going for the sprint means you stay alert' - Vuelta a España leader Jonas Vingegaard explains why he took part in stage 3 dash for line

It was quite the day yesterday for David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) with the Frenchman taking the stage win and moving level on time with race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

It has been a challenging year for Gaudu but this is an amazing start to his Vuelta...

>>> 'It's been a very difficult year' - David Gaudu resurfaces once again in Vuelta a España with spectacular uphill win against Pedersen and Vingegaard

Need some pre-race reading?

Check out this column from our regular contributor – and 10-time Vuelta rider – Thomas De Gendt, breaking down what it's like at the race. It's funny and insightful at the same time.

'Septemberitis', stage 22 partying and breakfast at 10am – Thomas De Gendt's best, worst and most unexpected things about the Vuelta a España

The stage is starting earlier today – 11.43 CEST – with the finish expected around 16.30 CEST.

That's so the riders can fly from Grenoble back to Spain, and the teams can make the long drive.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 4 of the Vuelta a España.

On the menu today: 207km from Susa in Italy to Voiron in France as the race heads towards Spain. There are some big climbs in the first half of the stage, but we're expecting some sort of bunch finish in Voiron, where there's a gentle rise to the line.