Pogacar powers to solo stage four win in Andorra la Vella at Vuelta a España
Tadej Pogacar won the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España in Andorra la Vella on Tuesday with a long solo ride that strengthened his grip on the overall lead.
Pogacar is competing in the Vuelta a España for the first time since 2019 and began the day top of the general classification with a nine-second lead. After the stage he said, "It's super good because now I can be calm and confident for the next days," and added, "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."
The 27-year-old accelerated on the climb with 50km remaining and then rode alone over the remaining terrain of the 104.8km mountainous stage. He opened a large advantage on the descent from the second climb and maintained his effort to the finish in Andorra la Vella.
Monday's third stage had been abandoned because of severe hailstorms in the French Pyrenees; on Tuesday Pogacar had started the fourth stage conservatively, sitting in the third peloton about 32 seconds behind the leading group before making his move. Lorenzo Fortunato of UCI WorldTeam XDS Astana crossed the summit of the first mountain pass to collect mountain points prior to Pogacar's attack.
On the descent from the second climb Pogacar had a lead of around 90 seconds and at one stage stretched that gap to almost three minutes before a chasing group, which included Jarno Widar and Primoz Roglic, reduced the deficit. The ride represented the longest solo Grand Tour victory of his career, surpassing the 43km solo he achieved on the Col du Tourmalet in the Tour de France.
Stage four top finishers were: 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.
The general classification after stage four showed Pogacar leading in 7 hours 38mins 59secs, with Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-BORA hansgrohe) +3mins 21secs and Enric Mas (Esp/Movistar Team) +3mins 32secs. Roglic replaced Wout van Aert — who finished 24 minutes and 35 seconds off the pace — in second place overall; other positions included Sepp Kuss +3mins 44secs and Oscar Onley +3mins 45secs.
Stage five is scheduled for Wednesday, a 173.3km hilly route starting in Falset near Tarragona and finishing in Roquetes, with the Vuelta heading south down Spain's east coast; Falset was the site of severe hail on Monday.