Vuelta a Espana 2013 - Stage 4

27/08/2013 23:56

The Vuelta continued today with a stage that was billed as "the end of the world." In reality it was 189 kilometres along Galician roads once again from Lalin to Finisterra. The stage also included the dreaded Mirador de Ezaro, a climb that reaches gradients of 30%, and a climb that brought most of the peloton to a standstill when it traversed it as a stage finish last year. 

Five riders made their way out on the roads as the day's break, Danilo Wyss (BMC), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ), Dennis Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) and Alex Rasmussen of Garmin-Sharp. The tough rolling stage and the presence of the Mirador de Ezaro meant the peloton never let the break get completely away, and every member apart from Nicolas Edet was brought back just before or on the climb itself. Edet continued to ride well, and after going solo down the descent was joined by Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), and together they were then joined by a group of six, including four-time Tour de France stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez (Belkin). 

Race leader Chris Horner's RadioShack team made sure the new break didn't get very far infront however, and they were soon brought back into the fold. Then commenced another fierce chase onto an uphill finish, today it was a two kilometre ramp up to the finish in Finisterra, where we finished just besides the old lighthouse. Teams such as Orica-GreenEDGE, Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Movistar all contributed.

The calm before the storm soon abated, and it was perennial attacker Juan Antonio Flecha of Vacansoleil-DCM who made the first move. He got a small gap, and it was soon big enough for Daniel Moreno (Katusha) to take up the chase in earnest. When he got close to Flecha's wheel he put in an impressive attack that distanced the group. Fabian Cancellara, Chris Horner's teammate, put in a good chase, but never really looked like catching Joaquim Rodriguez's lieutenant, and it was Moreno who raised his arms in victory.

It looked at first, and was announced as such by commentary, that Chris Horner had finished safely in the group and would keep the leader's red jersey. However, the race commisaires judged there to be a gap as big as six seconds, meaning the Shark Vincenzo Nibali is back in the red of race leader. Horner was upbeat about losing the jersey however, stating that it gave him more rest time, as he regards himself as a serious contender for this Vuelta, saying that he has "really really good legs." How big Horner's challenge will be remains to be seen, but the first four days of the Vuelta have been tremendous, and there is no reason to suggest that the rest of the race will be anything otherwise.