cycling: Vuelta a Espana stage #4: Calmejane wins - Atapuma new leader

Cycling: The young French Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) just won the 4th stage of the Vuelta a Espana. He broke away from a leading group on the final climb and triumphed as a soloist. Darwin Atapuma (BMC) was also happy: The runner-up took over the leader's jersey from Ruben Fernandez (Movistar). There were no time gaps among the top favorites for overall victory.

Large leading group with Nikias Arndt, Marcel Wyss and Thomas De Gendt

The riders had to cover 163,5 km today from Betanzos to San Andrés de Teixido. In the first half of the race, two mountains in the third category stood in their way and towards the end the Mirador Vixía de Herbeira, a mountain in the second category and thus synonymous with today's mountain finish. With a length of 11,2 km and an average gradient of 4,8 percent, this climb cannot be described as a roller mountain, because a small descent in the middle of the mountain makes for these deceptive data. The last four kilometers have an average incline of over seven percent. Either way - the drivers have to go up. Some of them wanted to start the climb with a bit of a lead and they should be able to do that. Immediately after the start, some drivers tried to break away from the field. In the end, 21 professionals succeeded, including Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick Step), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale), the German Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) and the Swiss Marcel Wyss (IAM). As in the Tour de France a few weeks ago, the Belgian Thomas De Gendt tried to climb the mountain points. He won the first two mountain classifications and is now four points behind the leader and yesterday's winner Alexandre Geniez.

Darwin Atapuma fights for the leader's jersey

Even before the start of the final climb, riders tried to break away from the leading group several times. With 13 kilometers to go and a lead of more than five minutes, it seemed that the escapees could hardly be prevented from succeeding. Alternately, individual drivers or small groups were able to break away. Just before the start of the mountain, Axel Domont (Ag2r) was able to pull away a few seconds. He was caught again fairly quickly, however, and then Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) was able to put a few yards between himself and his pursuers, with compatriot Pierre Rolland chasing. Meanwhile, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) seemed to have something up his sleeve as he let his teammates at the front of the peloton work hard on the approach to the final climb. Team Movistar also took part, as Darwin Atapuma from the leading group was only 1:35 minutes behind in the overall standings. He now tried to lead the group up the mountain at a constant high speed.

Lilian Calmejane wins stage 4

With 2,5 km to go, Pierre Rolland was caught by the chasing group, while Lilian Calmejane was still able to stay ahead. Darwin Atapuma was in full swing as the lead was still over three minutes and his goal seemed within reach. In the peloton, the Movistar team set the pace again, as they did throughout the day. The fans waited in vain for dangerous attacks from the peloton. Only Peter Kennaugh briefly attacked, but no one saw him as a serious candidate for overall victory. After all, this attack meant that overall leader Ruben Fernandez was left behind and should therefore lose the jersey today. Meanwhile, Lilian Calmejane was already raising his hands. The young Frenchman won the 4th stage of the Vuelta a Espana ahead of Darwin Atapuma, who was able to take the leader's jersey with this great performance. Because more than two minutes after the day's winner, the field of favorites only crossed the finish line. There were no time gaps among the top favourites.

Vuelta a Espana Stage #4 – The daily standings:

Vuelta a Espana Stage #4 – Overall standings: