Rodriguez wins steep uphill battle to take stage 4 victory

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Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) won stage 4 at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco on his ideal finishing terrain, an incredibly steep final pitch atop the category 1 Alto de Ibardin mountain finish.

A leg-snapping 18 percent gradient awaited inside the final 500 metres of the Basque race's second consecutive mountain finish, where Rodriguez unleashed an explosive surge and soloed away to victory from an elite selection of climbers.

Overnight leader Sammy Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), who started the stage tied on time with Rodriguez, did his best to limit his losses and crossed the finish line in second place at nine seconds. Sergio Henao (Sky) rounded out the top three, 12 seconds behind Rodriguez, immediately followed by Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) in the same time .

With the stage victory Rodriguez moves into the general classification lead with a nine-second advantage over Sanchez. Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan), the 2010 Pais Vasco champion and the 2011 runner-up, holds third overall at 21 seconds.

"I'm very happy with this victory," said Rodriguez. "It came on just the right day, because Igor Makarov, the president of the Russian Cycling Federation, a member of the UCI Management Committee, the head of the Russian Global Cycling Project and the president of the Board of Directors of ITERA Co., celebrates his 50th birthday today. This win is obviously for him and for his effort to bring Katusha to the top of world cycling.

"It was a really hard final part, but very suitable to my characteristics," continued Rodriguez. "First I was able to slipstream Schleck, then Poels, then I managed to pass him and win. I couldn't win this stage if my teammates didn't work like they did. They did an incredible job both yesterday and today, so I have to thank each one."

The Volta Ciclista al Pais Vasco concludes on Saturday with an 18.9km time trial, and while the race of truth has never been kind to Rodriguez, the race leader was cautiously optimistic about his chances.

"I'm happy I have the leader's jersey for the second year in a row, now we have to do all we could to keep it. It won't be easy because of Saturday's ITT. Races against the clock are not my speciality, but this one will be quite technical, with many ups and downs. It won't be a classic time trial and moreover now I have a nice gap so I think I have some chances, at least, to be on the podium in the final general classification."

Another mountain finish awaits in the Basque Country

As was the case in yesterday's mountainous stage it was another day of cool temperatures and misting rain in the Basque Country, and in a similar vein to the beginning of stage 3 today's first break didn't form until nearly an hour of fast-paced racing took place.

Evgeny Petrov (Astana) was particularly active and tried unsuccessfully to escape on the day's first of five categorised climbs, the third category Alto de Itziar at 23.5km. The persistent Russian found success, however, after 42km of racing when he attacked and was joined by Maciej Paterski (Liquigas-Cannondale) three kilometres later. Three more riders made the juncture at km 48, Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Movistar), Diego Ulissi (Lampre-ISD) and Marcos Garcia (Caja Rural), to form the early break in the 151km stage from Eibar to Bera.

The Euskaltel-Euskadi led peloton, working for race leader and stage 3 winner Sammy Sanchez, kept a tight leash on the escapees and never let their lead grow much larger than two minutes in the approach of the day's second climb at km 89.5, the category 2 Alto Aritxulegi.

A pair of GreenEdge riders, Simon Clarke and Wesley Sulzberger, launched an attack on the climb and crossed the summit 47 seconds behind the break, led through the KOM by Ulissi.

On the slick, twisting descent off the Alto Aritxulegi Garcia was dropped from the break and was picked up by Clarke and Sulzberger. The chasing trio made contact with the front four to form a seven-man escape as they began the ascent of the day's third climb, the category 2 Alto de Agina at 98.5km.

The seven escapees crested the summit of the Alto de Agina with a 57-second lead on the Euskaltel-Euskadi-peloton and on yet another treacherous descent Patxi Javier Vila (Utensilnord Named) escaped from the peloton and rode solo in an attempt to reach the break.

At km 115 the seven escapees held a 39-second lead over Vila and a 54-second advantage on the peloton over the twisting, undulating roads of the Basque Country.

Next up climbing-wise for the Pais Vasco peloton would be the first of two ascents of the Alto de Ibardin at 117.5km. The first ascent of the climb is rated as category two, while the final ascent is rated category 1 with the steep finishing pitch, not negotiated on the first ascent, tacked on for the mountain finish.

Vila would make contact with the break to form an eight-man lead group while on the first ascent of the Alto de Ibardin two more riders attacked from the field, Danish champion Nicki Sörensen (Saxo Bank) and recent Volta a Catalunya winner Michael Albasini (GreenEdge).

The breakaway topped the Alto de Ibardin 43 seconds ahead of Sörensen and Albasini and after a lightning-fast descent the pair bridged to the break with 25km remaining in the stage.

The descent took its toll on the break, however, as Vila and Garcia were dropped and absorbed by the peloton, soon followed by Sulzberger.

With 16.5km remaining Katusha took control of the peloton and upped the tempo in advance of the day's mountain finish. The hilly terrain was continuing to claim victims in the break as Madrazo and then Ulissi lost contact, unable to maintain the pace being driven by Albasini and Sörensen who had the fresher legs.

The five escapees, Albasini, Clarke, Sörensen, Petrov and Paterski, held the slimmest of leads as they hit the base of the final climb, six kilometres from the finish. Paterski soon cracked, and then Clarke succumbed to the pace-making of Albasini, while the Omega Pharma-QuickStep-led peloton, who had the break in sight, closed in on the remaining trio.

Albasini would be the last of the escapees to be caught, 2.6km from the summit, as Omega Pharma-QuickStep set a strong tempo for team captain Tony Martin.

Inside of the final two kilometres approximately 25 riders remained at the head of the race and as the climb steepened to seven percent Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) kicked off the endgame with an attack. The Belgian's move was quickly countered by Katusha's Simon Spilak, but RadioShack-Nissan's Fränk Schleck moved to the fore under the 1km to go banner and set tempo for his teammate and GC leader Chris Horner.

Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) and then Sergio Henao (Sky) each attempted to escape just as the road's gradient dramatically steepened inside of 500 metres to go, but Joaquim Rodriguez was poised and ready to strike, and strike he did with an attack nobody could answer to claim victory and the leader's jersey.

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