As it happened: Vuelta a España's first GC summit finish battle on stage 4

Stage 4 of the Vuelta a España sees the peloton line up on Spanish roads for the first time and it also brings the first summit finish of the race at Pico Villuercas. The 167km leg through the haunting region of Extremadura gets under way from Plasencia at 13.05 CET, with the peloton due to hit kilometre zero at 13.27 CET after a lengthy neutralised section.

There are four classified climbs on the agenda this afternoon, starting with the category 2 Puerto de Cabezabellosa (9.2km at 5.4%), which is followed by the category 1 Alto de Piornal (13.9km at 5.6%). Those ascents should give the break a chance to establish itself ahead of a long stretch of valley road. The category 3 Puerto de Miravete (8km at 4.5%) comes with a little under 50km to go, and there are bonus seconds on offer at the top. The day’s key difficulty, of course, comes right at the end, with the stiff category 1 ascent to Pico Villuercas.

The climb of Pico Villuercas is 14.6km long with an average gradient of 6.2%. But as is so often the case on the Vuelta, the statistics gloss over the true nature of the beast. The climb is a relatively steady one for the first 10km before the road ratchets up viciously in the final 4km, with sustained double-digit gradients and ramps that touch 20%. Despite the relatively fresh legs in the peloton at this early point in the Vuelta, there should be a degree of separation among the GC contenders on a climb like this.

Wout van Aert carries the red jersey into today's stage after his exploits in the opening three days, but the Belgian downplayed his prospects of holding the lead on Pico Villuercas. "The fun is unfortunately over now," he smiled. Alasdair Fotheringham has more here.

General classification after stage 3

1          Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Visma - Lease a Bike       10:05:59

2          Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates         0:00:13

3          Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek          0:00:15

4          Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ    0:00:19

5          Edoardo Affini (Ita) Team Visma - Lease a Bike       0:00:21

6          Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Jayco-AlUla       0:00:29

7          Primoz Roglic (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe         0:00:30

8          Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team            0:00:31

9          João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates      0:00:32

10        Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team             0:00:33

The Vuelta last visited Pico Villuercas in 2021, when Romain Bardet claimed victory from the break. The climb arrives much earlier on the 2024 Vuelta, and the first summit finish of the race will bring some definition to the hierarchy of contenders. Alasdair Fotheringham's preview of today's stage is here.

The peloton is assembling on the start line in Plasencia for the roll-out at 13.05 local time. They have a lengthy neutralised section before hitting kilometre zero at 13.27 or so. 

The peloton is rolling through the 6.5km neutralised section with 175 riders signing on this morning.

-170km

The flag drops and stage 4 of the Vuelta a Espana is formally under way.

-165

There's a brisk start to proceedings and after a flurry of early attacks, Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) is off the front in the company of Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty). This quintet has a handful of seconds in hand on the peloton, but there are plenty more riders eager to get up the road early here.

A determined group is giving chase just behind the escapees. Dylan Teuns (Israel Premier Tech), Xabier Berasategi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R), Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Martin Lopez (Astana) and Antonio Jesus Soto (Kern Pharma) are all keen to get up the road, sensing that the break might just go the distance this afternoon.

The two breakaway groups merge, leaving eleven riders at the head of the race, but the peloton is only ten seconds behind the leaders. The riders out in front are Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny), Harold Martin Lopez (Astana) and Antonio Jesus Soto (Kern Pharma)

-153km

The eleven leaders hit the foot of the category 2 Puerto de Cabezabellosa (9.2km at 5.4%) with a lead of 10 seconds over the peloton. It's been a blistering start to proceedings, with an average pace just shy of 50kph thus far.

-152km

The escapees are reeled back in by the peloton on the lower slopes of the climb, where the pace remains very brisk indeed. We can expect further fractures of the bunch as the road continues to rise.

Armiral and Sepulveda go on the offensive once again, this time in a five-man group with Brandon Rivera (Ineos), but the move is quickly brought to heel.

-150km

The indefatigable Armirail tries again, this time in the company of William Junior Lecerf (Soudal-QuickStep), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula). The quintet opens a slender lead over the peloton on the climb.

The front group expands to twleve riders but the body of the peloton is only five seconds back and the race looks like to come back together once again. After rather sedate openings to the first two road stages of the Vuelta, today's stage is altogether more attritional.

-146km

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny) leads the race over the top of the Puerto de Cabezabellosa, where the early break may finally have taken shape. Moniquet is joined at the front by Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and they are more than half a minute clear of the bunch as they crest the summit.

That gap extends swiftly over the other side, with the peloton now seemingly content to grant this group some leeway.

Meanwhile, Ineos' Thymen Arensman and Oscar Rodriguez are reportedly among the fallers in a crash in the peloton.

-136km

Break:

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Peloton at 2:25

Armirail, who began the day 31 seconds down on GC, is the virtual race leader as the five escapees ride in the short valley that leads to the foot of the category 1 Alto de Piornal (13.9km at 5.6%). Remco Evenepoel won atop the Piornal in the final week of the 2022 Vuelta, all but sealing his final overall victory. 

-127km

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) are on the lower slopes of the Piornal with a lead of 2:39 over the peloton.

Primoz Roglic's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad are setting the tempo in the peloton on the slopes of Piornal, which feels like a statement of intent from the three-time champion.

Roglic is riding this Vuelta after injuring his back in the crash that forced him to abandon the Tour de France. The Slovenian was the best of the GC men in Saturday's opening time trial but these first mountains are a bigger test of his recovery, as he acknowledged at the start. "It’s definitely going in the right direction. It’s better and better. Even though I still feel the back, it’s so far so good. We will see today on the first climbs when I really push it," said Roglic, who smiled when asked if it was an advantage to have raced up Pico Villuercas before. "With a steep one like this, it’s maybe better not to know what is waiting for you. But you need to have the elgs at the end."

-121km

Break:

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Peloton at 3:00

-116km

Sylvain Moniquet leads the break over the summit of the Alto de Piornal with a lead of 3:33 over the peloton.

Primož Roglič’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad continue to police matters at the head of the peloton on behalf of the three-time winner. After Roglič’s encouraging display in the opening time trial, today’s stage is an important examination of his credentials.

-107km

Break:

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Peloton at 2:57

After this long, sweeping descent off the Piornal, the race will face into 40km or so of valley road ahead of the day's next climb, the category 3 Puerto de Miravete. The heat, so typical of Extremadura at this point of the year, is another factor on today's stage. The current temperature is 36.1°C, and there are plenty of riders who will pay later in the day for their exertions in these conditions.

Wout van Aert may be in the red jersey of race leader, but his role in the Visma-Lease a Bike squad today is clear. As if to hammer home the point, he helps to pace Sepp Kuss back up to the peloton after the American drops back to the team car.

-98km

Into the final 100km and the holding pattern remains more or less the same. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe lead the peloton, which is 2:33 down on the five escapees.

The break's lead is contracting slightly on this long, valley road. Red Bull's pace-setting at the head of the bunch has sliced the gap to a little over two minutes.

-90km

Break:

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Peloton at 2:08

-85km

The early impression from today's stage is that Primoz Roglic is confident about his prospects. Rather than allow the breakaway amass a sizeable lead, Red Bull are continuing to set a pace on the front and the gap has dropped inside two minutes.

-80km

The escapees are still 25km or so from the base of the day's penultimate climb. Back in the bunch, meanwhile, Red Bull continue to do all of the pace-making. Visma-Lease a Bike, who have both the current red jersey and the defending champion in their line-up, are enjoying a free ride for the time being, as are UAE Team Emirates.

Bruno Armirail remains the virtual overall leader but his prospects of taking the red jersey for real appear to be diminishing as the day draws on. Red Bull have not given the escapees very much leeway and at this juncture, it looks as though the GC contenders will fight out stage victory on Pico Villuercas.

Kaden Groves scored his first victory since the final day of last year's Vuelta when he won in Ourem on stage 2, and the Australian placed second behind Wout van Aert yesterday. He's in the news again today, after Alpecin-Deceuninck announced that he has signed a two-year contract extension with the team. Groves had been linked with a possible move to Astana-Qazaqstan but he has opted to stay put despite the presence of Jasper Philipsen on his current team.

-65km

On the road to Pico Villuercas, meanwhile, Red Bull continue to set the temp, 2:15 down on the five escapees. 

-58km

The race crosses the river Tagus en route to the category 3 climb Puerto de Miravete. The break is two minutes clear of the peloton, where Red Bull set the pace with a delegation from Visma-Lease a Bike lined up behind them. 

-55km

Break:

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Peloton at 2:14

The escapees are on the lower slopes of the category 3 Puerto de Miravete (8km at 4.5%), the day's penultimate climb.

The intensity has abated a touch in the peloton and the break's lead has stretched out accordingly. Armirail, Moniquet, Zana, Bizkarra and Castrillo are 2:30 clear of the bunch with 4km of the penultimate climb remaining.

-48km

The escapees have maintained a united front on this climb and their cohesion has been rewarded with an additional minute added to their lead. They have 3:08 in hand on the peloton.

As if on cue, Bruno Armirail attacks 700m from the summit in search of the king of the mountains points. Moniquet and Zana respond immediately.

Zana puts up fierce resistance, but Bruno Armirail produces a powerful sprint to claim maximum points at the top. The Frenchman presses on over the other side, though he will surely wait for the rest of the escapees to catch back up.

-45km

The escapees have suddendly given themselves a chance by stretching their lead out to three minutes, but the quintet will need to restore their cohesion rapidly after that interlude for the mountains sprint.

-44km

Break:

Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula), Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Peloton at 3:16

The Vuelta climbed Pico Villeurcas in 2021, but the approach was slightly different, as our man in Spain Alasdair Fotheringham explains: "Barring the last few kilometres, it was mostly on a different approach road - coming up from the south through the nearby town of Guadalupe. This time the race tackles Villuercas from its northern side. Slightly confusingly, the hardest sub-segment of the Villuercas that the Vuelta will use this August, known as the Alto Collado de Ballesteros (2.9 kilometres at 13.4%) also formed part of its 2021 route as a separate, mid-stage, climb." Read the full story here.

-40km

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have resumed their pace making in earnest over the top of the penultimate climb, and they are tearing clumps off the break's advantage on the rolling plateau that leads towards the base of the finishing ascent. The gap is down to 2:08.

-38km

The unity of the break is definitively shatterd as Bruno Armirail attacks with intent. Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) comes with him, and this duo have quickly distanced their erstwhile companions.

Armirail has enjoyed a fine debut season with Decathlon-AG2R and the former Giro maglia rosa has looked the strongman of this break all afternoon. He showed his confidence here by waiting for Castrillo to bridge across and then immediately signalling to the Spaniard about how they needed to rotate their turns on the front.

-34km

Break:

Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R) and Pedro Castrillo (Kern Pharma)

Peloton at 2:12

It's still Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe who lead the peloton, which is on the cusp of sweeping up the trio of riders distanced by Armirail and Castrillo. Patrick Konrad takes to the radio to ask his team car about their approach from here. Meanwhile, a Visma-Lease a Bike delegation is lined up behind them, with the maillot rojo Wout van Aert prominent.

-30km

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe lead the peloton into the final 30km, 2:28 down on Armirail and Castrillo.

-27km

Adam Yates drops back to the UAE team car for some gels and a quick parley with his directeur sportif. The stiff slopes on the climb - on concrete rather than tarmac, incidentally - might well tell us something about the internal hierarchy at UAE, where Yates lines up alongside João Almeida.

-25km

Castrillo and Armirail are collaborating smoothly at the head of the race, to the extent that the Spaniard pours some water from his bidon over his colleague as they swap turns. They have 2:21 in hand on the peloton, which is still being led by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on behalf of Primoz Roglic.

-22km

Armirail and Castrillo are a little over 7km from the base of the category 1 climb to the finish at Pico Villuercas. The climb is 14.6km long with an average gradient of 6.2% but, as the profile demonstrates, those statistics don't even begin to cover its true difficulty.

-20km

Into the final 20km for Armirail and Castrillo, who still have 2:08 in hand on the bunch. That won't be enough to fend off the GC men for stage honours, but they'll try to survive off the front for as long as they can.

In the peloton, meanwhile, Red Bull remain the sole team taking responsibility for the pursuit, though they have managed to spare men like Daniel Martinez and Aleksandr Vlasov to work for Roglic on the final climb. Visma and UAE have enjoyed more or less a free ride. It will be fascinating to see how Wout van Aert is deployed for Sepp Kuss and to see precisely how UAE Team Emirates attack this climb. As well as Yates and Almeida, they have Isaac del Toro, Brandon McNulty, Marc Soler and Jay Vine in a deep line-up.

-18km

Two minutes the gap on the final approach to the climb. Red Bull still lead but there are delegations from UAE, Bahrain and Visma all moving up.

-16km

Break:

Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R) and Pedro Castrillo (Kern Pharma)

Peloton at 1:45

Kaden Groves moves up in the peloton ahead of the intermediate sprint. One imagines the Australian will face competition from Wout van Aert. There were bonus seconds atop the category 3 Puerto de Miravete, incidentally, which means the break swept them all up before the GC men got there.

-15km

That was quite a full-blooded sprint from Van Aert and Groves. Van Aert led it out but I think - I think - Groves just pipped him at the last.   

-14km

Armirail and Castrillo start the climb to Pico Villuercas with a lead of 1:32 over the peloton, where Red Bull still hold the reins of pursuit. The gradient is relatively steady for the first 9km or so of this climb before it kicks up wickedly in the final 4km.

Wout van Aert will lose the red jersey this evening. The Belgian sits up as soon as the climb begins, along with a smattering of fast men that includes Kaden Groves.

-12.5km

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe occupy the real estate at the head of the bunch as the climb begins, but they are content to keep tapping out a steady tempo for the time being.

-11km

Delegations from Movistar, Visma, Bahrain and UAE are moving up, but they're all happy to let the pace-making to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, who have spent more or less the entire day towing the bunch in pursuit of the escapees. It feels like a very public vote of confidence in Primoz Roglic's prospects this afternoon, but let's see what this stiff final climb tells us.

Richard Carapaz is guided towards the head of the bunch by a group of EF Education-EasyPost riders. They're already on the climb, but the real pinch point will come with 5km or so to go, shortly before the gradients ramp up to double digits. Until then, it will be something of a waiting - and positioning - game for the podium contenders.

-10km

Bruno Armirail and Pedro Castrillo carry a buffer of 1:16 over the peloton into the final 10km of the stage. 

-9km

The gap is dropping steadily now as the tension rises in the peloton on the lower slopes of Pico Villuercas. Armirail and Castrillo now have 56 seconds in hand on the bunch. They might last as far as the beginning of the steepest section, but they won't get much further than that. 

Irish champion Darren Rafferty rides to help Richard Carapaz into position. Tao Geoghegan Hart and Mattias Skjelmose are well positioned near the front and Soudal-QuickStep have also moved up for Mikel Landa. For the first time, Red Bull have vacated the front of the peloton.

-7.5km

A delegation from UAE moves to the front with intent... There could be fireworks once this race enters the final 5km. Meanwhile, the break's lead is down to just half a minute.

-7km

Break:

Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R) and Pedro Castrillo (Kern Pharma)

Peloton at 0:30

Lidl-Trek take over at the head of the peloton, but Red Bull still have plenty of bodies around Roglic near the front too.

-6km

UAE, Red Bull and Lidl-Trek are all present in numbers at the head of a reduced peloton, which is a little over a kilometre from the steeper portion of this climb.

-5.7km

Jay Vine takes over at the front for UAE with Pavel Sivakov and Joao Almeida lined up behind him. Adam Yates and Brandon McNulty are also near the head of the bunch. 

-5km

Armirail and Castrillo swing left onto the steep, concrete surface, where the gradient rises to 16%. Their lead is 15 seconds but that will evaporate quickly as UAE and Red Bull push on the pace in the bunch.

Jay Vine sets the tempo in the peloton on the first of the steep ramps before Pavel Sivakov accelerates off the front and sets out in pursuit of the escapees.

Sivakov's acceleration has stretched out the peloton, with Aleksandr Vlasov leading the pursuit for Red Bull.

-4.5km

Sivakov catches and passes Castrillo and Armirail to hit the front of the race. Roglic takes over the pace-making in the stretched out bunch, and he brings the race back up to Sivakov...

-4.2km

Shades of Miguel Indurain as Roglic figures the best mode of defending his interests is to ride on the front. There's certainly precious little drafting benefit on 20% slopes and the Slovenian is happy to dial up the pace and stretch out the severely reduced bunch still further. Sivakov, Enric Mas, Felix Gall and Sepp Kuss are among the men positioned behind him but gaps are opening further down the road... 

-3.8km

Felix Gall (AG2R Decathlon) attacks and opens a small gap. Roglic continues to set the tempo in a very reduced group of favourites, with a dozen or so riders on his wheel. Sivakov, Mas, Kuss, Richard Carapaz, Joao Almeida, Carlos Rodriguez and Lennert Van Eetvelt are still in touch with Roglic, but the second and third groups are not irretrievably distanced yet.

-3.3km

Felix Gall remains in front, ten seconds or so clear of the favourites group, which is being led by Roglic. The big absentees appears to be Adam Yates. Thymen Arensman and Ben O'Connor are also missing from the Roglic group for now.

-3km

The narrow road isn't helping the television motorbikes' coverage, but we can see that Mas and Lennert Van Eetvelt are the only men able to follow Roglic, who is dragging them up to Gall... The gaps are widening to the men behind them... 

-2.7km

Roglic, Mas and Van Eetvelt join Felix Gall at the head of the race inside the final 3km. This quartet is gaining ground on men like Adam Yates and Sepp Kuss, who hav ebeen distanced on the steepest part of the climb, but things might reorganise themselves as the gradient eases.

-2.5km

Roglic continues to turn the screw. Mas and Van Eetvelt can follow, but Felix Gall has been distanced. A rider from Israel Premier Tech is battling to get back on terms, as is Joao Almeida. 

-2km

Any doubts about Roglic's condition have surely been alleviated here. The Slovenian continues to set the pace with Mas and the impressive Van Eetvelt on his wheel as they come off the steep, concreted section of the climb. Joao Almeida is chasing in fourth place, a handful of seconds down. The rest of the GC men - Yates, Kuss et al - are scattered further down the mountain. 

-1.8km

Almeida has been joined by Felix Gall and Matt Riccitello (Israel Premier Tech) in the second group on the road, 11 seconds down on Roglic, Van Eetvelt and Mas. 

-1.4km

João Almeida, Felix Gall and Matt Riccitello join Lennert Van Eetvelt, Primoz Roglic and Enric Mas at the head of the race with a mile or so left to go. This sextet should fight out stage victory and it looks as though they have gained a significant clutch of time on the rest of the GC men. Further down the mountain, Sepp Kuss struggles on the wheel of UAE's Pavel Sivakov...

-1km

Lennert Van Eetvelt leads into the final kilometre. Roglic will be keen to keep the pace even and put more time into the GC men, but it will be interesting to see if anyone is willing to collaborate with him.

Landismo never dies... Mikel Landa comes from nowhere, in the manner of Dutch sprinter Femke Bol, and he's within touching distance of the leading six. Just as he's about to make contact, however, Riccitello attacks...

Riccitello is brought to heel and the pace abates. Landa latches on to make it a group of seven, and they will fight it out for stage victory...

Mikel Landa senses his chance and he kicks with 200m to go. He opens a small gap and then withers on the vine. Van Eetvelt responds by opening his sprint from distance, but Roglic is winding up behind him...

Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) wins stage 4 of the Vuelta a Espana.

Lennert Van Eetvelt looked to be beginning to raise a hand in celebration but he realised his error and resumed his sprint. Not for the first time, mind, there was nothing to be done in the face of the Roglification (TM Daniel Friebe) on show here. 

Joao Almeida took third on the stage ahead of Mas, Gall, Riccitello and Landa, all in the same time as Roglic and Van Eetvelt.

Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) was best of the rest, coming 8th at 18 seconds. George Bennett, Sepp Kuss and Pavel Sivakov came home 28 seconds down. 

Aleksandr Vlasov lost 38 seconds. Mattias Skjelmose came in 43 seconds down. Ben O'Connor lost 1:11, while Richard Carapaz and Adam Yates surprisingly conceded 1:29.

Primož Roglič will take possession of the red jersey, eight secods up on Joao Almeida, who looks increasingly like UAE's leader here.

Result

1          Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe         04:26:49

2          Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Dstny

3          João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates

4          Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar Team

5          Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team

6          Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech

7          Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step

8          Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious         0:00:18

9          George Bennett (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech    0:00:28

10        Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates

General classification

1          Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe         14:33:08

2          João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates      0:00:08

4          Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar Team        0:00:32

8          Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious         0:00:38

5          Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Dstny           0:00:41

6          Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team            0:00:47

7          Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates         0:00:50

8          Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek   0:00:58

9          Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step

10        Aleksandr Vlasov Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe             0:01:00

Primož Roglič on his stage win. “It was not actually the main objective of today but when you see the guys riding hard in this heat, I’m happy to finish it off,” says Roglič, who insists Red Bull hadn’t controlled the peloton on his orders.

“Nobody asked me. if they would have asked me I probably wouldn’t have said to go so hard or control it for the victory, but I had no option.”

No matter, the performance augurs well for Roglič’s prospects of a record fourth Vuelta win.

“It was tough, eh. There was heat and for me coming a bit back, I felt definitely the back after some hours. We’ll have to see. Hopefully it doesn’t go worse but we’ll keep the aim to go down by down,” he says.

“I always say, you never know when is the last [victory] so I just enjoy it. It’s life, eh. It doesn’t go all the way up, we have challenges. I’m just happy today with how the team worked and that I could finish it off at the end.”

Roglič's insistence that he hadn't been consulted on Red Bull's plan to control the stage doesn't entirely tally with what Dani Martinez has just told Eurosport, incidentally, but that's all part of the game. Four days in, the Vuelta has a familiar look. Roglič, here after fresh heartbreak at the Tour de France, is in the red jersey and looking decidedly like the man to beat. 

João Almeida will be heartened by his display, which was very much in keeping with pretty much every big climb Almeida has tackled in his career. He was canny enough not to go into the red on the steepest section but he cruised across the gap to Roglic et al when the road flattened out. The Portuguese rider might well be UAE's leader now - though Adam Yates might enjoy greater freedom of movement to attack now that he is over a minute down on GC.

Enric Mas, meanwhile, has just produced his best ride of the season on the first summit finish of the Vuelta, and that augurs well for his chances of adding to his collection of overall podium finishes in this race. And Mikel Landa also declared himself present with a dramatic fightback in the final 2km.

Erstwhile overall leader Wout van Aert rolls across the line 26 minutes down. The Belgian will go again for stage victory tomorrow.

Sepp Kuss was 11th at 28 seconds and in the overall standings he is now 13th at 1:14. "It was super tough. The heat made it hard, and it was a big group on the entry to that climb, so it was quite nervous. In the end, it was a pretty short effort even if it felt like a while. I didn’t have the best feeling but then I saw I only lost 30 seconds so I can be happy with that actually. It was pretty calm all day. I think everybody was saving a bit because if you go over the limit in this heat you feel it. And we all felt it in the finale."

Kuss' old teammate Primoz Roglic, meanwhile, showed his hand this afternoon.

"Everybody knew he was going to be the favourite and he was going to be really strong like he always is, especially in the Vuelta," Kuss said. "This was a confirmation: he rode the bottom of the climb to the top. He looked pretty strong to me.”

Lennert Van Eetvelt missed out on stage victory but this performance will give the UAE Tour winner plenty of belief for the remainder of the Vuelta. "Now it hurts a bit, but in a couple of days, I can be pretty happy with it," Van Eetvelt said. "Today was a good confirmation of the form and it gives me and the team confidence." 

A full report, results and pictures from today's stage are available here.

Meanwhile, Will Jones has this tech gallery from the Vuelta. 

You can see the change in the GC standings at a glance in our daily guide here.

'Did you hear me shout? That's what I felt,' said Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) about his huge yell of disappointment as he crossed the line second to Roglič atop the Pico Villuercas after 170.5 kilometres of racing. His narrow miss of a first Grand Tour win ‘was kind of stupid’, he said later. He admitted he didn't sense Roglič coming from behind. Read what else he said about his mistake and what he hopes to do at this year's Vuelta.

‘That was kind of stupid’ - Lennert Van Eetvelt regrets arm gesture that cost him Vuelta a España stage win

Sepp Kuss cedes 28 seconds on daunting Pico Villuercas climb and says the heat is on as stage win by Roglič not a surprise. 'This is the confirmation' Slovenian in top form, but the race is just beginning.

Defending Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss determined to battle on despite first summit finish time loss

Tomorrow, the Vuelta heads south into Andalusia for a stage finish by the banks of the mighty Guadalquivir in Seville. The Vuelta hasn't been to the city since the opening day of the 2010 race when HTC-Highroad won the team time trial and Mark Cavendish became the first-ever wearer of the maillot rojo, introduced that year in place of the golden jersey that had been awarded since 1999. The fast men should have a chance tomorrow in a likely bunch sprint, with Wout van Aert and Kaden surely likely to be to the fore. Read more here.