Vuelta a Espa̱a РStage 4

2014_August_Prendas_Bannerr4

Another mini summit finish suits the climbers on Stage 4 of the Vuelta a España with a home win whilst Columbian Esteban Chaves continues to lead on GC

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Vuelta a Espa̱a РStage 4

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) had made it clear that he targeted this long stage to Vejer de la Frontera with a final section suiting him ideally. He delivered perfectly with a blistering finishing to win his ninth Vuelta stage in style ahead of the other two favourites at the start in Estepona, stage 3 winner Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Dani Moreno (Katusha).

Colombia’s Esteban Chaves (Orica Greenedge) retained his overall lead.

The start was given at 12:36 to 191 riders. On the gun, six men broke clear and embarked on a long break in the sun ––– Mickael Delage (FDJ), Bert Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Nikolas Maes (Etixx-Quick Step), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) and Markel Irizar (Trek). Their lead quickly rose to reach 13:30 after 29 kilometres. The gap went down a bit as Esteban Chaves’s Orica-Greenedge team-mates seized the reins of the bunch. The red jersey’s team were promptly joined by Tinkoff-Saxo riders working for arch-favourite Peter Sagan, the winner of stage 3.

Thanks to the joint effort, the lead melted steadily in the heat and was down to 4:00 with 60 km to go. Movistar, determined to help Valverde celebrate his birthday in style, took control in the last 50 kilometers as the wind seemed to offer chances of an echelon. Their move was fatal to the six escapees, whose lead had gone down to one minute, 45 km from the line.

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Ten kilometers further down the road, a crash at the back split the peloton and earned the break a reprieve. Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin) and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) were among the riders involved. Helped by Amael Moinard and Jempy Drucker, the American returned within the bunch after a ten kilometres chase.

In the last 20 kilometers, while their former companions called it a day, Spain’s Mikel Irizar and France’s Jimmy Engoulvent refused to give up, retaining a slim 30 seconds lead before being pulled back in the last 15 kilometers. The stage was set for an exciting finale on the last stretch featuring sections at 9 percent. Attacks took place from the foot of the last ascent.

Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Soudal) was the first to tackle the climb and Valverde first hesitated to follow suit before waiting for a better opportunity. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) was next to try his luck. But he was in turn countered by Samuel Sanchez (BMC), quickly joined by Nicolas Roche (Sky). The two seemed to have timed their move to perfection but despite a brave last gasp effort by Roche, could not do anything when the three pre-stage favorites, Valverde, Sagan and Dani Moreno (Katusha) surged to sweep the podium places

Reactions
Alejandro Valverde: “Despite being a really demanding finish, we hadn’t made a recon earlier and only this very morning we checked it on the Internet to get the knowledge we needed about the slopes. I had to rest a bit after the Tour and should I stayed on ‘racing mode’ checking the route, I would have burned myself out. With technology around nowadays, you can check every detail and get more or less the same results.

“Seeing that it really was demanding, we knew it would suit me well, and with those really hard, final 400m, I kept my mind cold, because Alberto Losada was keeping a tremendous pace at the front. Sometimes, we’re the ones taking the biggest efforts in search for the stage win, as it happened Sunday towards the Caminito del Rey -which we couldn’t crown-, and today, even though we always kept the front and it was a really fought stage from the team -I can’t thank them enough for what they did-, we saved as much energy as possible while others brought the breakaways back one by one. The headwinds were strong all day and the heat, though not really intense -the Garmin was saying 30, 32 degress-, played an impact on the result.

“I was seeing that neither Bilbao nor Samuel Sánchez and Roche were opening a serious gap, and I kept Sagan under control. As the shadow on the ground showed him on my wheel, I didn’t have to look back. I knew he was strong, but into such a finish, with 200m to go, when Majka jumped away and closed the gap… you can suffer some sort of misfortune, but it was clear to me that this victory was mine, or at least I had a really strong chance. More than the bonus seconds I took, I’m happy because of this win, which makes my team-mates so confident about our chances.

“Leading the team alone? Not at all – nothing changes with this. Nairo and I remain equal in terms of leadership. It’s just that this finish was good for me, but Nairo is doing well, as you can see inside the peloton everyday. Caminito del Rey was the first serious day of racing after four of five when our legs almost did nothing like a real effort, and that made the stage really strange. It was very different today. We’re happy with this victory and look forward to keeping this line.”

Esteban Chaves (Overall leader) “It’s true,” the Colombian said of predictions. “It was a really really difficult final. You went down a big road at 60-70km per hour, then you needed to brake and then in one moment you start a 10% climb”.

“It’s really difficult to stay in the front when it’s like this so Simon Gerrans, Daryl Impey, Cameron Meyer and Mitch Docker put me in the front. Their work is really amazing and really important for me.”

“I started (the final four kilometres) alone, because the guys used all the energy to help me before,” Chaves explained. “But I just had to follow Purito (Rodriguez), (Alejandro) Valverde and Peter Sagan to try to stay with them in the final.”

Peter Sagan: second on stage: “It was a very hard day, in which I spent a lot of time at the front of the group. I approached Valverde to ask him whether Movistar could help us but they didn’t seem very interested”, says Sagan and adds:

“The last climb was very hard, it was 300 metres up, then a little bit down and then again up. I think I can also be satisfied with the second place as it was extremely hard. I had spent a tremendous amount of energy at the front and in the final stretch I went behind the wheel of Valverde”.

“The last climb, about 400 meters, was horrible for me. I honestly thought that was the end for me. However, when I saw all the climbers passing me, I said to myself I should make a last effort, squeeze out all my forces and push. I stayed behind Valverde but my legs weren’t there, so I finished behind him”.

“The stage was tough and if I knew beforehand the finish would be so hard, I wouldn’t have tried. Still, I think second place in such a stage is good”.

Joaquim Rodriguez: “It was one of the easier stages of the Vuelta. It was a flat stage but a pretty climb in the end. Unfortunately that climb was not perfect for me. It was not steep enough and that descent in it broke the rhythm. However I am on schedule. I really feel good”.

Stage 4
1 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM 05h 07′ 30”
2 SAGAN Peter TINKOFF – SAXO @ 00′ 00”
3 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 00”
4 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY @ 00′ 00”
5 GONCALVES José CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA @ 00′ 00”
6 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 00”
7 SIMON Julien COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 00′ 00”
8 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF – SAXO @ 00′ 00”
9 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 00”
10 CHAVES RUBIO Johan Esteban ORICA GreenEDGE @ 00′ 00”
11 HARDY Romain COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS @ 00′ 00”
12 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis TEAM SKY @ 00′ 00”
13 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN @ 00′ 00”
14 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 00′ 00”
15 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY @ 00′ 00”
16 BILBAO Peio CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA @ 00′ 00”
17 LANDA MEANA Mikel ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 00”
18 BRAMBILLA Gianluca ETIXX – QUICK STEP @ 00′ 00”
19 JEANDESBOZ Fabrice TEAM EUROPCAR @ 00′ 00”
20 ARU Fabio ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 00”

24 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN @ 00′ 00”
121 CUMMINGS Stephen MTN – QHUBEKA @ 05′ 12”
150 THOMAS Geraint TEAM SKY @ 05′ 12”

Overall
1 CHAVES RUBIO Johan Esteban ORICA GreenEDGE 13h 11′ 31”
2 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN @ 00′ 05”
3 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY @ 00′ 15”
4 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN @ 00′ 24”
5 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 28”
6 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 35”
7 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel TEAM KATUSHA @ 00′ 36”
8 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM @ 00′ 36”
9 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY @ 00′ 40”
10 ARU Fabio ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 47”
11 LANDA MEANA Mikel ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 00′ 51”
12 NIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel TEAM SKY @ 00′ 51”
13 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM @ 00′ 55”
14 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R LA MONDIALE @ 01′ 04”
15 BRAMBILLA Gianluca ETIXX – QUICK STEP @ 01′ 04”
16 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis TEAM SKY @ 01′ 06”
17 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF – SAXO @ 01′ 14”
18 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA PRO TEAM @ 01′ 14”
19 CARDOSO MARTINS André Fernando S. TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN @ 01′ 15”
20 MEINTJES Louis MTN – QHUBEKA @ 01′ 21”

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