Vuelta a España stage 4: Ben Turner powers past Jasper Philipsen for first Grand Tour stage victory

Great Britain's Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) shocked all the big sprinters to take victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España, winning his maiden Grand Tour stage in Voiron with an impressive sprint.

Expected to be a bunch sprint, the uphill drag to the line in France made the sprint harder than expected, and it was a never-fading Turner who came past Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to take victory.

Philipsen had to settle for second, despite a strong lead-out from his team, with his teammate Edward Planckaert finishing third after delivering the Belgian right to the line.

"I don't know what to say to be honest," said an emotional Turner at the finish, who was only sent to the Vuelta at the last minute.

"It was a crazy week, super crazy. I wanted to come to the Vuelta, and I still had some issues with my leg since the Giro, but the team believed in me and I went to Renewi [Tour], and then they said they needed me, so of course you say 'yeah'. I'd do anything to race these races.

"It's just a crazy feeling. I was devastated in the first sprint when my chain came off, but I really believed in myself today. I felt really good all day. I don't know what to say, just thank you the boys, it's such a good atmosphere at this race, it's just been amazing. Also what all the boys did today, and Kwiato [Michal Kwiatkowski], it's just unbelievable, in Poland and here, for sure all the results I've had the last weeks wouldn't be without him."

A late attack came from Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), who countered after the final intermediate sprint, but he was duly reeled back in by the sprint teams with 15km to go as they ensured there was a bunch finish in Voiron – though the winner wasn't the sprinter anyone expected.

After winning stage 3 and moving onto equal time with the race leader, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) finished 25th on the stage, sufficiently far ahead of red jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to move into the race lead, and now sits top of GC on countback.

How it unfolded

Heading uphill straight from the start in Susa, it didn't take long for a breakaway to form in the opening throes of stage 4, with a five-man group forming in 15km of racing. This group was comprised of Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché-Wanty), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Mario Aparicio (Burgos Burpellet BH), and they soon built a gap of three minutes.

With three categorised climbs packed into the first half but a flat finish, it was important for the sprint teams to not let the leaders' gain too much of an advantage on the ascents, as they needed to keep the gap closable, which saw Lidl-Trek working fairly steadily in the first 50km of racing, not letting the gap go much over three minutes.

Though it was only stage 4, the hard start left no room for weakness, and some riders pulled out in the early part of the stage, including 10th place at the start of the day, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep).

Over the final major climb of the first part of the race, the Col du Lauteret, the gap started to shrink, and the five leaders went over it ahead, but the peloton were closing in on the long descent, and with 95km the break was caught. Though their efforts didn't go close to the finish, Nicolau's exploits over the categorised climbs did see him move into the KOM jersey.

Soon after the catch, a second Burgos Burpellet BH rider went on the attack, with Sinuhé Fernández following on from Aparicio's stint in the break. Despite getting away on the flat, the Spaniard did manage to pull out a gap, which was up to 50 seconds with 60km to go to the finish. Alpecin and Lidl-Trek worked to keep the gap under control and ensure the sprint finish.

Over a small uncategorised climb with 47km to go, Fernández was caught, and things began to win up for the intermediate sprint and the finale. At the intermediate with 32km to go, red jersey hopeful Gaudu tried to get up there to grab some bonus seconds, but didn't quite manage it, finishing outside of the placings as Mads Pedersen took the maximum points.

The sprint opened up a counter-attack from Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and the French time trialist built up a gap, leading by 40 seconds with 20km to go, really forcing the sprint teams to work hard. However, he was duly caught with 15km to go as things wound up for a bunch finish.

With 10km to go, a crash in the peloton saw several riders go down and many more held up behind the blockage on a narrow road, with George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech) and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) among those involved.

In front, it was a hot battle for position into the final 5km safe zone, with Visma brushing shoulders with the sprint teams as they looked to keep Vingegaard safe, though they moved back after the 5km to go point.

It was Lotto who led into the final 3km, leaving teams like Alpecin some time before they had to come to the fore, with the big sprint teams only really opening into the final kilometre, though Lidl-Trek didn't seem to be organised despite their work earlier in the day.

Alpecin came to the front at the right moment and seemed the most in control in the sprint, but ultimately Planckaert almost held on for too long, not quite giving Philipsen the space to launch, and making way for Turner to grind out an impressive win in front of the Alpecin duo.

It was another frustrating day for Pedersen who finished sixth, still waiting for a top result in this race.

In the early GC battle, stage 3 winner Gaudu, who started the stage equal on time with leader Vingegaard, only had to finish eight places ahead of the Dane to move into the overall lead on countback, which he duly did, claiming the first Grand Tour leader's jersey of his career.

Gaudu will wear red on stage 5's team time trial, still equal on time with Vingegaard, whilst Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) is third on GC at eight seconds.

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