Roglic wears red in La Vuelta News

MADRID, 23 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic, from the Jumbo-Visma, confirmed his theoretical favoritism in La Vuelta a España after winning the fourth stage, the first held in the national territory with a route of 152.5 kilometers starting in Vitoria and finishing in the Alava town of Laguardia, and position himself as the new leader.

The triple winner of the Spanish round showed his 'love' for the race and, after opening the first gap in the inaugural team time trial, he did not let the first day pass with a 'cheating' profile and a steep finish, designed by Joseba Beloki , to take his first stage victory and keep the red jersey worn by his teammate Edoardo Affini.

Roglic demonstrated his power and ambition in a sprint in which he overtook the Danish Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) and the Spanish Enric Mas (Movistar Team), who left positive feelings for the future on a day where the initial role went to Joan Bou (Euskaltel Euskadi), new jersey of the mountain after taking advantage of the first scoring port while in the break, and the Kazakh Alexei Lutsenko (Astana), who even circumstantially became the leader of the race.

After this first threat of escape, the peloton, led by Jumbo-Visma, controlled, although with the pace of the race the leader Affini was soon cut off, leaving the red jersey within range of the one who ended up being the winner of the stage.

The peloton was selected on the climb to Puerto de Herrera, when there were 20 kilometers left to go. Some Spaniards such as Enric Mas, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) or Juanpe López (Trek Segafredo) were still there, although the young Juan Ayuso (UAE) showed certain doubts about staying among the fastest.

In the final section of the pass, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) was the protagonist, who attacked in the last meters to take advantage of the bonus, although he was closely followed by Roglic, who already hinted that he was going to go for the stage.

Later, there was time to relax on the descent and some riders tried their luck, including Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), although no one made a difference. Then the Quick-Step came on strong, with the Belgian Remco Evenepoel trying to position Alaphilippe well for a finish that was favorable to him.

At the entrance to the last kilometer, the tension was maximum, with many runners in very little space during the last climb and without anyone wanting to attack so as not to make a mistake by launching very quickly. The one who best read the race was Roglic, who despite not having a teammate was able to contain the Trek-Segafredo strategy to take victory.

The Slovenian is positioned as the leader and continues to open the gap with his rivals. At the moment, he leads his teammate Sepp Kuss by 13 seconds, Remco Evenepoel by 27, Richard Carapaz (INEOS) by 33 and Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) by 51. As for the Spaniards, Mas, who left a good feeling, is 51 seconds behind, while Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) is one minute behind.

This Wednesday the fifth stage of this Vuelta Ciclista a España will be held, starting in Irún and arriving in Bilbao after 182.5 kilometers and in which the peloton will have to overcome five ports, three in third and two in second, including the Alto del Vivero, 4.6 kilometers and an average of eight percent.

--CLASSIFICATIONS.

-Stage.

1. Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma) 3:31:05.

2. Mads Pedersen (DIN/Trek-Segafredo) m.t.

3. ENRIC MAS (ESP/MOVISTAR TEAM) m.t.

4. Quentin Pacher (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) m.t.

5. Pavel Sivakov (FRA/INEOS-Grenadiers) m.t.

-General.

1. Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma) 11:50:59.

2. Seppe Kuss (USA/Jumbo-Vism) at 13.

3. Ethan Hayter (GBR/INEOS-Grenadiers) 26.

4. Pavel Sivakov (FRA/INEOS-Grenadiers) m.t.