Movistar take charge in hilly Vuelta Femenina stage 4 as mountains loom

Movistar take control on stage 4 of the Vuelta Femenina
Movistar take control on stage 4 of the Vuelta Femenina (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

One day after initiating the echelons that put several GC riders out of contention for the Vuelta Femenina overall victory, the Movistar Team had a plan for the final of stage 4, too. After setting a hard pace up the final climb, the team's GC cards Annemiek van Vleuten and Liane Lippert took turns attacking. Although the race came down to a sprint in the end, the attacks helped Emma Norsgaard who sprinted to a second place that "felt like a victory" after an injury-marred spring for the Danish sprinter.

"It was another day where we had a good plan for the final. The idea was to stretch it out with Paula [Patiño] and Floortje [Mackaij], and we set it up exactly as we wanted. It was a nice team effort again with Paula pacing super hard on the climb to set up the attacks. After the GPM we wanted to attack, I did, then Liane took over, and I went again," Van Vleuten described the action on the plateau after the day's only classified climb, the third-category Alto de Horche.

Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.