Tadej Pogacar took a huge step towards winning the Vuelta a Espana for the first time and completing his Grand Tour collection as he powered to a resounding victory in the fourth stage on Tuesday.
The Slovenian sped away from his rivals with 50km remaining in Andorra la Vella and never looked back, finishing the 104.8km mountainous stage in two hours 40 minutes 35 seconds, two minutes and 39 seconds ahead of Jarno Widar.
Pogacar began the day top of the general classification with a nine-second lead and looks increasingly unlikely to relinquish the red jersey, extending his advantage to three minutes and 21 seconds with the longest Grand Tour solo victory of his career.
"It's super good because now I can be calm and confident for the next days," said Pogacar, who remains on course to become the first rider since 1994 to lead a Grand Tour from start to finish.
"We just keep going day by day and focus on each day after this, because it will be a little bit less stressful for sure.
"I tried with an attack on the climb and I just hoped that I could survive until the finish line. I saw that I could open the gap and I did it and it was pretty tough but a beautiful day out there."
After Monday saw the third stage abandoned because of severe hailstorms in the French Pyrenees, Pogacar began stage four patiently as he sat in the third peloton about 32 seconds behind the leading group.
Lorenzo Fortunato of UCI WorldTeam XDS Astana led across the summit of the first mountain pass to collect the mountain points before Pogacar made his move.
With 50km remaining the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider surged uphill and began his descent from the second climb with a lead of 90 seconds.
From then on the 27-year-old raced alone and completed his record solo victory, surpassing the 43km benchmark he set on the the Col du Tourmalet last month en route to winning stage six of the Tour de France.
At one point he stretched his lead to almost three minutes, before a chasing group including Widar and fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic were able to win some seconds back.
Roglic replaces Wout van Aert - who finished 24 minutes and 35 seconds off the pace - in second place in the general classification, with Spaniard Enric Mas in third.
On Wednesday the 173.3km hilly stage five will start in Falset near Tarragona - the site of more severe hail on Monday - and finish in Roquetes as the Vuelta heads south down Spain's east coast.
- Sir Chris Hoy: Campaigning for cancer screening should not be down to me
- Vuelta stage three abandoned after hail in Pyrenees
Vuelta a Espana stage four results
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 2hours 40mins 35secs
Jarno Widar (Bel/Lotto Intermarche) +2mins 39secs
Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM Team) same time
Oscar Onley (GB/Netcompany INEOS) same time
Sepp Kuss (US/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) same time
Enric Mas (Esp/Movistar Team) same time
Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-BORA Hansgrohe) same time
Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +2mins 57secs
Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 17secs
Gregor Muhlberger (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM Team) same time
Vuelta a Espana general classification after stage four
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 7 hours 38mins 59secs
Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-BORA hansgrohe) +3mins 21secs
Enric Mas (Esp/Movistar Team) +3mins 32secs
Sepp Kuss (US/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 44secs
Oscar Onley (GB/Netcompany INEOS) +3mins 45secs
Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +3mins 50secs
Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +3mins 57secs
Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +4mins 6secs
Jarno Widar (Bel/Lotto Intermarche) same time
Jay Vine (Aus/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4mins 11secs
Leave a Comment