The Vuelta al Pais Vasco entered the mountains proper today. On a stage that saw average gradients exceed 10% and maximum gradients approaching 30%, the riders were in for a brutal race. After a stage that saw Tinkoff riders test the GC leader throughout, and with attacks coming late in the day, Alberto Contador crossed the line in seventh position, with the same time as the stage winner and gaining a second in the GC race. With another day in the mountains before the final day’s time trial, the race to GC victory is just warming up.
In the first official mountain stage, the race was to cross six categorised climbs, starting with the first category Jaizkibel, and three ascents of the same mountain – the Aia – from different routes, taking place in the last 35km of the stage. The parcours looked relatively steady, but what was different about this stage was the toughness of the climbs, with the average gradient for many of them exceeding 10%. The weather was wet and saw some of the race’s descents take place in treacherous conditions.
Alberto Contador gave some insight into today’s racing. “It was a hard and complicated day because of the rain. It’s been raining intermittently throughout the day and that made it even more difficult. The start was crazy and we had to wait 80km to see the breakaway become definitive. The average speed was very high despite the fact we had gone through various climbs and that made for a hard day.”
With a group of six riders having gone clear after 80km, building up a gap on the peloton of more than two minutes, Tinkoff had the luxury of sitting behind Team Sky, as they had the responsibility to defend the race lead. As the 30km to go mark came and went, Tinkoff started to test out the others inhale front group to see how strong they were, with Roman Kreuziger putting in efforts to up the pace at the front.
Of the team’s efforts today, Sport Director, Steven De Jongh, was full of praise. “Alberto was feeling good, he knew the last climb and tried to get away after some good work by Roman Kreuziger. Roman was on a good day and helped to make it really hard in the front group in the final, and the other guys also worked hard to stay in positioned to prepare for the climbs.”
Hitting the Aia for the final time, and one of the toughest climbs of the day, the attacks began. With five riders out in front, the aim was to bring these riders back in as the gap decreased steadily. As the climb hit 28% and riders began losing traction on the damp roads, Alberto chased Sky’s Henao as he went on the attack, taking Movistar’s Quintana with him, pulling in the last riders of the break.
Alberto was keen to test his legs, and felt the final, steep climb was the place to do it. “On the final climb up Aia I tried to see how my legs were doing but again the rain made it difficult to ride off the saddle. Despite that we passed the summit quite well, but there was no mutual agreement among the ones we were there and in the end we were caught by the main group.”
As the road levelled off at the top, the group was gaining on Alberto’s breakaway, but with the peloton in pieces and escapees scrabbling to get away, the stage was anyone’s with less than 3km remaining. With the remaining breakaway riders caught 2.5km out, more attacks came, first from Alberto, and then from BMC’s Sanchez, who would go on to win the stage. Finishing with the bunch, the Tinkoff leader crossed the line in seventh position, taking the same time as the stage winner.
The second gained was a second closer to the lead, as De Jongh explained from the finish. “It was another good day for us today, and at the end we closed in a bit on GC. Alberto is now just 10 seconds down on the new leader, Kelderman, so it’s even tighter at the top of the GC now ahead of two tough stages.“
After hard racing throughout the season so far, and in the past few days of the Vuelta, the team lost another member however, as De Jongh explained. “We are down to five now though as Matteo Tosatto left the race, he was just empty today and got dropped early in the day when the speed was really high so there was no coming back.” In spite of one member fewer, the team would still be in a position to fight, through not having to protect the race lead, as De Jongh continued. “Tomorrow is going to a be a hard day and we’ll see what we can come up with. The responsibility is still off us to control the race so we can make our own strategy and hopefully we can be in the best possible position ahead of the final time trial.”
With another day in the mountains to come, there were a number of potential outcomes, as Alberto explained, in light of today’s finish. “There wasn’t any change in the GC, with the exception of Landa losing a few seconds. That was another effort added on the legs that will take its toll. Tomorrow will be another hotly-contested stage and people will try to get the breakaway because they know there are chances it reaches the finish. On the other hand we will have to see how that will play out in the GC because there will be few chances to make a difference. Arrate is a tough climb but it’s difficult to get away, so I expect the gap is going to be slim. Everything is at stake at the time-trial.”
Stage Result
1. Samuel Sanchez (SPA) BMC 04:13:12
2. Rui Costa (POR) Lampre-Merida +00:00:00
3. Warren Barguil (FRA) Team Giant-Alpecin +00:00:00
4. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA) AG2R Le Mondiale +00:00:00
5. Sergio Henao (COL) Team Sky +00:00:00
7. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:00:00
35. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:01:17
51. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:04:52
52. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:04:52
88. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:11:10
DNF Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff
GC after stage 4
1. Wilco Kelderman (NED) LottoNL-Jumbo 17:52:48
2. Sergio Henau (COL) Team Sky +00:00:04
3. Mikel Landa (SPA) Team Sky +00:00:07
4. Samuel Sanchez (SPA) BMC +00:00:08
5. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:00:10
32. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:03:26
48. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:13:21
65. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:19:23
134. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:54:11
