Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2019 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

February 23, 2019

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2019 – Stage 4 – Armilla – Granada : 120 km

A notably tougher version of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol starts this Wednesday, with stage 4’s incursion into the mountains of Sierra Nevada all but certain to decide the five-day race. The tougher format also continues to set Spain’s highest-ranked early-season stage race apart from the Volta ao Algarve – the other 2.HC race which runs concurrently with the Ruta del Sol and has a route more to the liking of the Classics specialists.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) has hit the ground running in his first race of the 2019 season, winning stage the toughest mountain stage of the 2019 Vuelta a Andalucia, as the aggressive racing in the Sierra Nevada mountains cracked Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) took the race lead.

The 2018 Vuelta a España winner stormed out of a rapidly fragmenting lead group roughly five kilometres from the summit of the brutally difficult Hazallanas climb, crossing the top of the last ascent of the stage with 44 seconds advantage.

Yates then managed to keep the chasing group, led by an Astana trio of Fuglsang, Ion Izagirre and Pello Bilbao and also containing his brother Adam, at a distance on the long, fast descent back into Granada and the finish.

Former race leader Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) had a tough day, crashing early on, getting dropped at the foot of the Hazallanas climb, then having to change his bike on the descent. He dropped to ninth overall.

Now in the lead with a seven second advantage over his team-mate Izagirre, Fuglsang paid his respects to Mitchelton-Scott and Simon Yates in particular saying “he was super-strong and deserved the stage, but the main goal of the day was to take the jersey.”

However, it was Astana who initially made much of the running on the first of two difficult ascents of the day, the Purche, whittling down the main group. By the time the race went through the finish at Granada for the first time prior to tackling the Hazallanas, only Sergio Samitier (Euskadi-Murias) remained ahead.

Another important sort-out though came on the long, grinding ascent to Guejar Sierra, with Samitier reeled in and Wellens becoming isolated from his teammates thanks to the combined efforts of Astana and Mitchelton-Scott.

When Simon Yates and Pello Bilbao (Astana) launched one probing attack from a dozen strong lead group full of Mitchelton-Scott and Astana jerseys and Wellens had to respond in person, with more than 30 kilometres and one major climb left to go, the writing was on the wall for the Belgian.

On the ultra-steep slopes of the six-kilometre Hazallanas climb, Simon Yates opened up the throttle again, Wellens fell back, and with a second blast up the climb, Yates managed to open up a gap on a group now led by Fuglsang in person as Izagirre also began to suffer.

The Dane’s steady chasing could not bring back Simon Yates but it dislodged Jack Haig, Mitchelton-Scott’s best placed GC rider and by the time Izagirre regained contact close to the top, Fuglsang was clearly en route for the leader’s jersey.

On the long, very fast descent of more than 20 kilometres back to Granada, with riders reaching speeds of over 100km/h, Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) advantage of 44 seconds briefly increased. But the arrival of Bilbao in the chase group added considerable firepower to the Astana-led pursuit and at three kilometres to go, with the gap now down to 35 seconds and Yates visible ahead on the long straightaways leading into Granada, it looked like the Briton might just be caught.

Instead, Yates stayed away, with highly promising young Colombian Sergio Higuita (Euskadi) taking second place in the small group sprint behind at 26 seconds, whilst Fuglsang claimed third and the overall lead. He now leads teammate Izagirre by seven seconds, with Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) at 11 seconds.

Barring major surprises Fuglsang is now poised for the overall victory.

Sunday’s final 164kilometre stage from Otura down to the traditional race finish for the Vuelta a Andalucia in Alhaurin de la Torre, close to the region’s southern coastline, has some tough hilly segments early on. But with a flat final 20 kilometres, the odds of a bunch sprint finish or breakaway on Sunday are high, and so, too, are the chances of Fuglsang’s first stage race overall win since the Criterium du Dauphiné in 2017.

Results :
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 3:01:03
2 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi 0:00:26
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
6 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
8 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:01:20
9 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
10 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:51
11 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
12 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
13 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:26
14 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
15 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
16 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team
17 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
18 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
19 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
20 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
21 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
22 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:05:54
23 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
24 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
25 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
26 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
27 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
28 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
29 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
30 85 0:05:57
31 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:59
32 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:07:19
33 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:08:19
34 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
35 José Fernandes Neves (Por) Burgos-BH 0:08:41
36 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:10:23
37 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:10:58
38 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
39 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
40 Ricardo Augusto Afonso Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH
41 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
42 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
43 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
44 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
45 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
46 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
47 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:13:46
48 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:15:42
49 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
50 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
51 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
52 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
53 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
54 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
55 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
56 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
58 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
59 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
60 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
61 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
62 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
63 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
64 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:17:27
65 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:18:23
66 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:19:00
67 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF
68 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
69 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
70 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
71 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
72 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
73 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
74 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
75 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
76 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
77 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
78 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
79 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
80 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Roompot-Charles
81 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH
82 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
83 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
84 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
85 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
86 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
87 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
88 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
89 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert
90 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
91 Nelson Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
92 Xavier Cañellas Sanchez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
93 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
94 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
95 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles
96 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
97 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert
98 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
99 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
100 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
101 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
102 Sean De Bie (Bel) Roompot-Charles
103 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
104 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
105 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
106 Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
107 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
108 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
109 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
110 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles
111 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
112 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
113 Moreno Moser (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
114 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
115 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
116 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:20:43
117 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:22:18
OTL Dzmitry Zhyhunou (Blr) Equipo Euskadi 0:24:17
OTL Marc Fournier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
DNF Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert
DNF Corentin Ermenault (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
DNF Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
DNF Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
DNF Daniel Lopez Parada (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
DNF Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 13:43:41
2 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:07
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:11
4 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:21
5 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:57
6 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:08
7 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi 0:01:12
8 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:01:43
9 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:53
10 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:41
11 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:50
12 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:04:02
13 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:04:09
14 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:20
15 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:28
16 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:29
17 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:05:04
18 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:05:07
19 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:05:24
20 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:05:49
21 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:07
22 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:07:25
23 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:07:40
24 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:07:47
25 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:07:52
26 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:08:11
27 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:08:19
28 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:10:54
29 85 0:12:04
30 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:12:12
31 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:12:17
32 Ricardo Augusto Afonso Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH 0:13:07
33 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
34 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:18
35 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:13:36
36 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
37 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:42
38 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:13:56
39 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:14:14
40 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:14:29
41 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:14:38
42 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:15:12
43 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team 0:16:43
44 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:17:45
45 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:18:04
46 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:18:22
47 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:18:27
48 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:18:42
49 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:19:17
50 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:19:20
51 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:19:52
52 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:20:13
53 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:20:35
54 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:20:52
55 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:21:16
56 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
57 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:21:17
58 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert 0:21:20
59 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:21:30
60 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:21:35
61 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:21:45
62 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
63 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:21:50
64 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:21:55
65 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:22:00
66 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:22:19
67 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:22:20
68 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:22:24
69 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:22:37
70 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:23:00
71 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:23:03
72 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:23:17
73 José Fernandes Neves (Por) Burgos-BH 0:23:36
74 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:23:49
75 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:23:55
76 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:23:56
77 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:24:10
78 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:24:13
79 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:24:19
80 Nelson Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:24:32
81 Xavier Cañellas Sanchez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:24:40
82 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:25:04
83 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:25:19
84 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:25:20
85 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:25:35
86 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:25:47
87 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:25:55
88 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:25:59
89 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:26:17
90 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:26:46
91 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:27:16
92 Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:27:50
93 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:28:47
94 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:29:13
95 Sean De Bie (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:30:15
96 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:30:36
97 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:30:42
98 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:31:22
99 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:31:40
100 Moreno Moser (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:32:24
101 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:32:28
102 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:32:45
103 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:32:54
104 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:33:15
105 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:33:55
106 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:34:17
107 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:34:50
108 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:35:04
109 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:35:24
110 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:35:25
111 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:35:58
112 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:40:38
113 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:41:16
114 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:42:18
115 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:43:29
116 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:47:17
117 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:54:11