Vuelta 2015 stage 4: Puncheur Valverde at his best

Vuelta 2015 stage 4: Puncheur Valverde at his best - stage win!

On a flat parcours, Vuelta's 4th stage leads in nearly 210 kilometres to Vejer de la Frontera. The finale is spectacular with Alejandro Valverde besting Peter Sagan after a few steep climbing sections in the last 4 kilometres. Esteban Chaves holds on to the red jersey. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 4th stage Vuelta

1. Alejandro Valverde (spa)
2. Peter Sagan (svk) s.t.
3. Daniel Moreno (spa) s.t.
4. Nicolas Roche (irl) s.t.
5. José Gonçalves (por) s.t.
6. Joaquim Rodriguez (spa) s.t.
7. Julien Simon (fra) s.t.
8. Rafal Majka (pol) s.t.
9. Nairo Quintana (col) s.t.
10. Esteban Chaves (col) s.t.

13. Tom Dumoulin (nld) s.t.
14. Chris Froome (gbr) s.t.
17. Mikel Landa (spa) s.t.
20. Fabio Aru (ita) s.t.

GC after stage 4
1. Esteban Chaves (col)
2. Tom Dumoulin (nld) + 0.05
3. Nicolas Roche (irl) + 0.12
4. Alejandro Valverde (spa) + 0.25
5. Daniel Martin (irl) + 0.27
6. Joaquim Rodriguez (spa) + 0.32
7. Daniel Moreno (spa) + 0.33
8. Nairo Quintana (col) + 0.36
9. Chris Froome (gbr) + 0.40
10. Fabio Aru (ita) + 0.50

11. Mikel Landa (spa) + 0.54
13. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 1.04

Race report
After a fast start Bart-Jan Lindeman, Nikolas Maes, Mickael Delage, Jimmy Engoulvent, Kristijan Durasek and Markel Irizar off. And they don’t limit themselves to a fast start, the six riders power to a maximum advantage of 13’30” in no time. After one hour in the saddle Orica GreenEdge takes the leash loosely to bring the gap down. Tinkoff-Saxo lends a helping hand and the break is reeled in on time. Irizar and Engoulvent are the last warriors upfront, but with 11 km’s left it’s game over for them also.

Tosh van der Sande attacks on the steep 1 km climb with 4 km’s left, but he is too optimistic and Bilbao takes over, but the Spaniard is caught also. Then Sammy Sanchez powers away, Nicolas Roche on his wheel, and for a moment it looks they are heading for glory. But Sanchez collapses and Roche is left alone upfront. Is he going to make it?

No. An old and smart warrior takes the wheel of José Gonçalves, who bridges the gap before Alejandro Valverde launches the decisive attack. The Spaniard climbs to victory, Sagan is second, Moreno third.

Esteban Chaves retains the overall lead, despite losing 3 seconds.