On the day that the Vuelta returned to Spain, after the start in the Netherlands, Primoz Roglic, winner of the fourth stage and new leader of the general classification, shone again. The Slovenian, champion in the last three editions, maintains his idyll with the Spanish round and is already challenging Roberto Heras, the only one with four wounds.
“It's just the beginning, although it's good to start a few seconds ahead. It has been a hard and fast stage. In the end I saw the opportunity to fight for victory. She had legs and I went for her”, said the leader of the Jumbo about his tenth partial victory in the Vuelta after traveling the 152.2 kilometers between Vitoria and Laguardia, the first with mountains.
The profile of the stage said that it was a third category, with average ramps of 4.8%, and yet Puerto de Herrera, the second of the day, did damage to a shrinking peloton as the asphalt sloped. The Trek first and the Jumbo later set the pace for the ascent, which served as a preliminary test for the subsequent dizzying descent and the definitive slope in the final kilometer.
Trek's Kenny Elissonde perfectly set up the final meters for teammate Mads Pedersen's sprint. To one side the Frenchman, the Dane launched himself for victory, but from behind him appeared like a Roglic plane to take the glory with solvency. Enric Mas, who could not respond to the speed of the Slovenian, came third. The fifth stage, which will be run tomorrow between Irun and Bilbao, will once again be mid-mountain with five third and second category ports
1. Primož Roglic (SLO) Jumbo - Visma 3:31:05
2. Mads Pedersen (DEN) 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
1. Primož Roglic (SLO) Jumbo - Visma 11:50:59
2. Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo - Visma
3. Ethan Hayter (GBR) INEOS Grenadiers 26
4. Pavel Sivakov (FRA) INEOS Grenadiers m.t
5. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) INEOS Grenadiers m.t
6. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Quick-Step - Alpha Vinyl 27
7. Richard Carapaz (ECU) INEOS Grenadiers 33
8. Carlos Rodriguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers m.t
