La Vuelta 2018 – Stage 04 [FULL STAGE]

August 28, 2018

La Vuelta 2018 – Stage 04 – Vélez-Málaga – Alfacar. Sierra de la Alfaguara : 161,4 km

It may still be three weeks long, contain 3,275 kilometres of racing, and offer up nine summit finishes, but the 2018 Vuelta a España will be very different to most of the previous decade’s editions. When the Vuelta’s riders begin rolling down the start ramp of Málaga’s opening eight-kilometre time trial late in the afternoon of August 25, the two stars who have shaped the race the most in the last decade – 2017 winner Chris Froome (Team Sky) and the now-retired Alberto Contador – will not be among their number. Froome, having won the Vuelta last year and ridden two Grand Tours already this season, is sitting out the Spanish three-week race for the first time since 2013, while Contador, having won the Vuelta three times – and caused Froome to lose the race in 2014 and 2016 – signed off his career with a memorable solo win at the rain-drenched summit of the Angliru last September.

Ben King (Dimension Data) combined calm and strength on the final approach to the summit of Puerto de Alfacar to claim victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España ahead of Nikita Stalnov (Astana Pro Team), while Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) did enough to retain his red jersey in the face of attacks from Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The Vuelta’s first category 1 summit finish provided two races for the price of one as King and the day’s early breakaway battled for stage honours up ahead, while the men with designs on final overall victory took each other’s measure on the 12km haul to the finish.

That said, for long stretches of the afternoon, King looked on course to help himself to a stint in the red jersey, as the break’s advantage yawned out towards the ten-minute mark and he remained the virtual race leader until the upper reaches of the Puerto de Alfacar.

By that point, King was at the front of the race with Stalnov, after the pair forged clear of the nine-man break just ahead of the final climb to the line. They were initially joined by Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal), but the Belgian was quickly dropped once the gradient stiffened.

King was at times visibly frustrated by Stalnov’s reluctance to help with the pace-setting as the leading duo were stalked all the way up the mountain by Pierre Rolland (EF-Drapac). For much of the climb, the Frenchman’s deficit flitted between 15 and 30 seconds, but he made a mammoth effort to draw within metres of his prey beneath the flamme rouge.

Despite Rolland’s fightback, King bided his time until the final 400 metres and then unleashed a fearsome acceleration to rip clear of Stalnov and claim the stage honours. The Kazakhstani rider came home in second place, while an exhausted Rolland crossed the line 13 seconds back in third.

“It’s a dream come true. I really can’t believe it. I didn’t start believing in it until the last kilometre, and I’m really happy for the way it worked out. I’m happy for the confidence the team put in me, giving me the opportunity even though we’re riding here in support of Louis [Meintjes],” King said. “I set winning a Grand Tour stage as a goal for myself at the beginning of this year. It’s something I’ve had to keep believing in and have faith that I have that potential. This is really affirming.”

King began the day with a deficit of 4:33 on Kwiatkowski, and the breakaway’s 8-minute buffer at the base of the climb gave him a fighting chance of divesting the Pole of the red jersey, particularly as Sky seemed reluctant to take up the reins on the lower slopes.

A determined bout of pace-making from LottoNL-Jumbo rather altered the dynamic of the stage, however, with Tour of Utah winner Sepp Kuss impressively whittling down the red jersey group with his tempo.

“My mind was just blank, I was just in the hurt locker,” said Kuss, whose stinging pace proved too much for Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), and ultimately left Kwiatkowski relatively isolated from his Sky team.

A little under 4 kilometres from the summit, Simon Yates outlined his intentions for this Vuelta with a sharp acceleration. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) briefly considered following but then swung over, and the Briton quickly stretched out his advantage. The only rider who got back on terms was Buchmann, who sensed the general fatigue in the red jersey group and tacked on an attack of his own.

“I could see everybody next to me was on the limit,” Buchmann said. “The heat was today a factor and Lotto went very fast.”
Yates crossed the line in 8th place on the stage, 2:48 down on King, while Buchmann came home just behind him.

Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) accelerated in the final kilometre to finish 10th at 3:07, while Kwiatkowski and a reduced red jersey group that included Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Fabio Aru (UAE-Team Emirates) finished 3:15 down.

The margins have grown tighter atop the overall standings as a consequence. Kwiatkowski leads Buchmann by 7 seconds, while Yates is now 3rd at 10 seconds. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) lies 4th at 12 seconds, with Kelderman 5th at 25 seconds.

How it unfolded

Although Sunday’s trek to Caminito del Rey finished just beyond the top of a category 3 climb, stage 4 was classed as the Vuelta’s maiden summit finish. With the demanding finale above Granada in mind – not to mention the soaring temperatures – there was no great resistance to the day’s opening attack.

King, Stalnov and Rolland were joined by Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis), Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal), Lars Boom (LottoNL-Jumbo), Oscar Cabedo Carda (Burgos BH), Aritz Bagues (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias) and Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale) in forging clear in the opening kilometres, and the peloton was more than content to leave them to it.

Team Sky patrolled the front of the race on behalf of Kwiatkowski’s red jersey, and set a steady tempo as Rolland, Maté and company gladly extended their advantage in sizeable increments and reached seven minutes by the time they crested the top of the day’s first ascent, the category 1 Alto de la Cabra Montés.

Maté, the so-called Lynx of Andalucia, is always eager to impress on home roads. Already wearing the king of the mountains after his aggressive outing on stage 2, the Cofidis man buttressed his lead by claiming maximum points atop the Cabra Montés.

On the rugged terrain that followed, the margin between the break and the main field continued to grow, and it touched 10 minutes with 35km remaining. Movistar briefly opted to join Team Sky in the pace-making effort at the head of the peloton, but there was precious little urgency and the break began the final climb with a healthy buffer.

Wallays kick-started the attacking among the escapees on the approach to the final climb, and he helped to spark what proved to be the winning move. As the Belgian faded on the lower slopes, King – with Stalnov in tow – pressed on.

Results :
1 Benjamin King (USA) Dimension Data 4:33:12
2 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:02
3 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:13
4 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:08
5 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:39
6 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:57
7 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos BH 0:02:24
8 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:48
9 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:50
10 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:03:07
11 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
12 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:13
13 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:03:15
14 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
15 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
16 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
17 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
18 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
19 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
21 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
22 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky
23 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
24 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
25 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
26 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:52
27 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
28 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:03:57
29 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:21
30 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:05:07
31 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:05:09
32 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
33 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
35 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
36 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
37 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:05:47
38 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:01
39 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:06:11
40 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:13
41 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
42 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:06:53
43 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:07:18
44 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:07:20
45 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:07:45
46 José Mendes (Por) Burgos BH
47 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:08:11
48 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
49 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:08:30
50 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
51 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:09:29
52 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
53 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
54 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
55 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:09:38
56 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:09:49
57 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
58 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
59 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
60 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
61 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
62 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:11:04
63 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos BH
64 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
65 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
66 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
67 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:51
68 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:16
69 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
70 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:12:19
71 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
72 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:13:12
73 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
74 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
75 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
76 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
77 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
78 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
79 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
80 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ
81 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
82 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
83 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
84 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
85 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
86 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
87 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:14:03
88 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
89 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
90 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
91 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
92 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
93 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
94 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
95 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
96 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:08
97 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:15:11
98 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:15:42
99 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
100 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
101 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
102 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:15:49
103 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
104 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:17:05
105 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
106 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:17:16
107 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:18:08
108 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:18:35
109 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
110 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
111 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
112 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
113 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH
114 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
115 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH
116 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
117 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
118 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
119 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
120 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
121 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
122 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
123 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
124 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
125 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos BH 0:19:33
126 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:20:06
127 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:20:12
128 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:20:17
129 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
130 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:20:27
131 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
132 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
133 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:20:29
134 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:20:31
135 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
136 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
137 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
138 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
139 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
140 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
141 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos BH
142 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
143 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
144 Nelson Andres Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
145 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
146 Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
147 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
148 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
149 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
150 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
151 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky
152 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
153 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
154 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
155 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
156 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
157 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
158 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
159 Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH
160 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
161 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
162 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
163 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
164 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
165 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
166 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
167 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Floors

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 13:47:19
2 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:07
3 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:10
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:12
5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:25
6 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:30
7 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:33
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
9 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:37
10 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:42
11 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
12 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:43
13 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:45
14 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:46
15 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:47
16 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:48
17 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:53
18 Benjamin King (USA) Dimension Data 0:01:05
19 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
20 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:00
21 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:02:42
22 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:44
23 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:50
24 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:10
25 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:03:18
26 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:30
27 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:31
28 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:46
29 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:54
30 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:05:12
31 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:05:23
32 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:58
33 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:09
34 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:27
35 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:07:00
36 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:07:15
37 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:07:21
38 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:07:28
39 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:07:33
40 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:35
41 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:07:54
42 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:08:04
43 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:08:10
44 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:08:12
45 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:08:18
46 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:08:26
47 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:08:27
48 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:08:58
49 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:11
50 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:09:33
51 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
52 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:09:50
53 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:09:53
54 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:10:10
55 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:10:43
56 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:10:48
57 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:53
58 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:11:47
59 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:11:56
60 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
61 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:12:05
62 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:12:18
63 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos BH 0:12:33
64 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
65 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:12:34
66 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:12:54
67 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:12:57
68 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:05
69 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:13:10
70 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky 0:13:28
71 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:47
72 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:13:55
73 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:57
74 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:14:09
75 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ 0:14:31
76 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:14:44
77 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:15:44
78 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:16:09
79 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:16:50
80 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:17:09
81 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:17:20
82 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:17:34
83 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:37
84 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:18:20