Australian Kaden Groves of Alpecin-Deceuninck won stage four of the Vuelta a España on Tuesday in a sprint finish after an early breakaway was reeled in before the finale.
The fourth stage was a 184.6-kilometre ride from Andorra la Vella to Tarragona, which included two category three climbs in the final 60 kilometres, before a crash among the peloton with four kilometres remaining.
Coming into the final kilometre Groves was in an excellent position but had Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) and Julius van den Berg (EF Education-Easypost) to contend with. Van den Berg crashed into the barriers and it looked like Molano would take the stage when he went early. Coming off the final bend Molano held the lead but Groves powered home to take the stage win.
“Sebas [Molano] went full from the bottom with 350 metres to go and I was luckily patient enough and strong enough to close the gap with around 100 metres to go,” Groves said. “I was confident I could pass him because he led out from very early. On a finish like that, which is super tough and long, I thought he would have to be on a really good day to beat me.”
Groves, who also won a stage at last year’s Vuelta, was followed home by Molano in second and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) in third.
The stage had been billed as the first probable sprint finish of this year’s race, but a three-man group who broke away at the start of the stage threatened to upset those predictions. Eduardo Sepúlveda (Lotto Dstny) was the first to be caught with just 22 kilometres left, but not after taking maximum points from both climbs to take over as leader in the mountains classification.
The other two riders in the breakaway, Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) and David González (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) were caught by the peloton three kilometres later to set up the exciting stage finish.
There was no change at the top of the overall standings. The defending champion, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step), who won stage three still holds the red jersey and a five-second lead over Enric Mas (Movistar). Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) holds on to third place, in front of this year’s Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard of the Jumbo-Visma team. Wednesday’s stage five is a hilly 186.5km route from Morella to Burriana.
Meanwhile, four people have been arrested in Catalonia for an alleged attempt to sabotage Monday’s third stage, Spanish police said. Those detained were trying to spill some 400 litres of a liquid similar to motor oil on the road. They had two drums, each with a capacity of 200 litres, plus an activation device with an electrovalve and timer hidden among bushes on a bridge over the road where cyclists were expected.
A court set them free pending further investigation but ordered them to stay at least 500 metres away from the cycling event. They are being investigated for crimes against road safety, the environment, being part of a criminal group and public disorder.
