Having traveled from Portugal to Spain yesterday evening, riders in the peloton gathered in Plasencia on Tuesday afternoon for the start of stage 4 of La Vuelta a Espana 2024. The 170.5-kilometer stage from Plasencia to Pico Villuercas looked set to invite the climbers and general classification favorites in the peloton to engage in the first mountain battles of this year’s La Vuelta.

Race organizer Unipublic had included one Category 3 climb, one Category 2 climb, and two Category 1 climbs in the short route profile. The stage would culminate with the Category 1 Pico Villuercas climb, which featured sections of up to twenty percent. Belgian race leader Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) would likely find it difficult to defend his GC lead in the mountainous terrain and many competitors were eager to get a hold of the much-desired red race leader jersey.

Joshua Tarling (Ineos-Grenadiers), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-Alula) launched a courageous attacking effort after seven kilometers of fast racing. They were joined by several other riders in the following kilometers and their attack was neutralized by the chasing peloton with 154 kilometers remaining of today’s stage 4 of La Vuelta a Espana 2024.

Several breakaway attempts were launched while the riders in the peloton struggled on the Puerto de Cabezabelloza climb (Category 2).  

A viable breakaway group eventually formed. The attacking quintet featured Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Team Kern Pharma), and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi). The riders had an advantage of 02:30 minutes over the chasing peloton with 135 kilometers left of today’s La Vuelta battle.

The riders fought their way up the Alto de Piornal (Category One) and the front group had a time advantage of 03:25 minutes as they approached the top. Menawhile, riders from Visma – Lease a Bike spearheaded the main peloton in support of their race leader Wout van Aert and their defending Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss (USA).

Moniquet was the first rider to reach the top of the climb. He was followed by Zana and Armirail. The front quintet pressed on and entered a fast descent, which followed the climb. Meanwhile, the Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe team had taken control of the main peloton in support of its general classification favorite Primoz Roglic.

The front quintet entered the flat mid-stage section with a time advantage of two minutes over the chasing main peloton. Temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius, and riders were using their FlowBio hydration sensors to optimally monitor and adjust their hydration.

With fifty kilometers of today’s stage 4 remaining, the main peloton was spearheaded by riders from Team Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe, while the breakaway quintet had increased its advantage to approximately three minutes.

The favorites for the general classification battle were clearly on high alert and watching each other in the lead up to the stage finale. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and others were spotted near the front of the peloton.

Armirail attacked from the breakaway group to gain the points for the Best Climber Classification on the Category 3 climb. The quintet regrouped shortly thereafter. A false-flat plateau now awaited the riders before the final climb to the finish line.

Armirail attacked again with forty kilometers remaining and Castrillo joined the fun. The other three members of the breakaway group were unable to keep up with the attacking duo and were caught by the chasing peloton, which was spearheaded by riders from Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike. Thirty kilometers now remained.

Frenchman Armirail and Spaniard Pablo Castrillo entered the final climb (Category One) with a 01:30 minute lead over the chasing peloton. The Pico Villuercas offered an average gradient of 6.1 percent over 14.6 kilometers – and featured sections of no less than twenty percent.

Race leader Wout van Aert was dropped from the peloton on the climb. The Belgian rider would not be able to defend his GC lead in today’s stage.

The advantage of the Armirail-Castrillo front duo had been reduced to one minute with nine kilometers remaining of stage 4 of La Vuelta 2024.

Colombian Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost) was dropped from the main peloton along with many other riders. This was the final season as a professional cyclist for Uran and it had unfortunately been very disappointing this far. The rider had otherwise been known for his high spirits and animating way of racing.

Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) attacked with five kilometers left of today’s stage and his acceleration also caused the front duo to get caught by the peloton. Teammate Pavel Sivakov also launched an attempt. They were both reeled in.

GC favorite Primoz Roglic moved to the front of the favorites group, which was now leading the race. The group now featured approximately ten riders, including Enric Mas, Richard Carapaz, Sepp Kuss, Joao Almeida, and Carlos Rodriguez.

Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R) launched a solo attack.

Gall was still solo in front with three kilometers remaining. The other favorites, however, were not far behind. Would someone accelerate on the climb?

Gall was caught a few hundred meters later and Roglic now led a four-man front group in the steep sections of the climb to the finish line. Gall got dropped.

The front trio included Roglic, Mas, and Lennert Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny). Gall, Almeida and Matthew Riccitello (PremierTech) were chasing behind. Kuss, Rodriguez and Carapaz were further back with two kilometers remaining.

American Riccitello attacked in the final kilometer but was caught.

Mikel Landa attacked in the final hundred meters, but Van Eetvelt countered together with Roglic. Van Eetvelt thought he was about to cross the finish line as winner of today’s stage 4, but Roglic used a bike throw to push his wheel across the finish line before Van Eetvelt.

Primoz Roglic has won stage 4 of La Vuelta a Espana ahead of Lennert van Eetvelt, while Joao Almeida completed the stage podium.

Primoz Roglic is the new leader of La Vuelta.

Wednesday’s stage 5 of La Vuelta a Espana 2024 will take the Vuelta peloton down from the mountains on a 177-kilometer hilly route from Fuente del Maestre to Sevilla. Look for a mass sprint stage finale – or for a long breakaway effort to lead to a stage victory in the always incredibly hot and demanding territory. 

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for additional coverage from Vuelta a Espana 2024.

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