La Vuelta a España stage 4 preview - A game of cat and mouse?

Stage 4 skips a traditional rest day for travel from Italy, instead taking riders through France to Spain via the French Alps on what is the longest stage of the 2025 Vuelta a España.

The race organisers avoided major Alpine passes, selecting three categorised climbs: two second-category and one third-category. With the majority of the climbing coming in the first half of the route, the stage looks finely poised for a game of cat and mouse between the breakaway and the peloton.

Key information:

• Date: Tuesday, 26 August
• Start: 11:25 (CET)
• Estimated Finish: 16:31 (CET)
• Stage type: Medium mountains
• Stage length: 206.7km
• Elevation gain: 2,919m

Stage 4 begins in the town of Susa, which is situated in the middle of the Susa Valley, one of the longest valleys in the Italian Alps. The town last hosted a Grand Tour stage back in 2018 at the start of stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia. 

On the day, Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) claimed the third and final Giro stage win of his career, whilst behind Chris Froome (Team Sky) successfully defended the pink jersey ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) just 24 hours after moving into the race lead with arguably the most memorable performance of his career.

Soon after the start, the peloton will exit Italy, but not before taking on the first categorised climb, the Puerto Exiles, just 5km into the stage, which should see action as riders attempt to get into the day's breakaway. If the breakaway is unable to form on the Exiles climb, there will be plenty of riders looking towards the more difficult ascent of the Col de Montgenévre. 

The climb hasn't had to wait long to feature in a Grand Tour since its last appearance, which came just last year on stage 4 of the Tour de France, featuring before the ascent of the Col du Galibier where Tadej Pogačar laid down his first marker and claimed the first of six stage wins en route to the yellow jersey. The summit of the Montgenévre, 37.8km into the stage, is also significant for the fact it marks the point where the race exits Italy and enters France.

Next on the menu is the Col du Lautaret, which is a category 2 test, but most significantly reaches 2,000 metres above sea level.

At the crest of the Lautaret climb, with 129.9km to go, the stage's dynamics shift as most of the climbing is complete, but there's still a significant distance remaining of the longest stage of the 2025 Vuelta. A long descent awaits the riders as the peloton will cascade its way back towards sea level before a flat run-in, with the exception of a short uncategorised kicker, to the finish in Voiron.

It comes later in the stage than its predecessors, but the intermediate sprint for this stage sits at Noyarey with 32.3km remaining, which could become important for the points classification battle if the breakaway has been caught, or if there are any remaining points for the peloton to claim.

After an attritional stage, the finish will not be as straightforward as it looks on paper, just like the finale of stage 3. With fatigue in the legs, but also the fact that the road rises inside the final couple of kilometres and the gradients reach 5% inside the flamme rouge, timing will be crucial in the event of a sprint in Voiron. 

The finish could entice some of the puncheurs to try their hand if it comes to a sprint for the stage win, and as we have seen on stages 2 and 3, even some of the GC riders may get involved if the front group is reduced. 

However, riders such as Mads Pedersen and those of a similar profile will be eyeing this finish, especially after the Dane came very close at the end of stage 3, finishing 2nd behind David Gaudu.

Wout van Aert was the last winner of a WorldTour race that concluded in Voiron, when the Belgian won the second of two consecutive stages in the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné in his debut season with the then Jumbo-Visma team after transferring from Vérandas Willems-Crelan.

Key points:

• Puerto Exiles | Category 3 - 5.6km at 5.6% - 196.3km to go
• Col de Montgenévre | Category 2 - 8.3km at 6.1% - 168.9km to go
• Col du Lautaret | Category 2 - 13.8km at 4.3% - 129.9km to go
• Intermediate sprint at Noyarey - 32.3km to go

There will be a multitude of riders who could fight for the victory on stage 4.

With a flat run-in and slight drag to the line, the sprinters will be hard to beat - if they can get to the finish that is. However, that is the question. The toughness of the stage can't be underestimated, with nearly 3,000 metres of climbing, and if the right breakaway goes clear, it could be a very long and hard chase for any sprinter who feels good enough for their team to control.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) are two of the fastest sprinters in the field, but it will be a case of whether the nearly 3,000 metres of climbing takes its toll on them, which is very possible based on a tough couple of stages already in the legs. It could also be taken out of the hands of the sprinters if the first half is raced aggressively. 

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who missed out on stage 3, looks better suited to manage the climbs than the rest of the sprinters, but it won't be an easy task nonetheless, and the Dane will need to be well supported by his Lidl-Trek teammates throughout the stage to keep the breakaway in check. 

Orluis Aular and Iván García Cortina (Movistar) and the likes of Ben Turner and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) are two duos of fast finishers who will be hoping the race becomes more selective. Fabio Christen (Q36.5), Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale),Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ) and Guillermo Thomas Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) are two outsiders for a strong result from a reduced sprint.

Speaking of the breakaway, there will be riders who fancy their chances of building a strong advantage on the climbs, and with a long descent and fast run-in to Voiron, will believe that a sufficient gap can be made to hold off the peloton. Equally, the sprinter's teams will need to get themselves sorted quickly after the final categorised climb in order to bring back a strong group of riders ahead of the fast run-in to the finish.

The likes of Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Simon Carr (Cofidis) Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Brandon Rivera Smith (Ineos Grenadiers), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) are just some of the many combative, strong climbers who could take advantage in the stages' tough first half.

Could the current top 3 GC teams send riders into the break to give themselves another option, such as Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), for example

Other riders who will be hoping for an easier stage and sprint include Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost), Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis).

As we've even seen on stages 2 and 3, some of the GC contenders are willing to get involved in the finish if things become selective.

It's an intriguing stage to call, but that makes it one that is definitely worth tuning in for.

Vuelta a España stage 4 favourites

⭐️⭐️⭐️  Pedersen
⭐️⭐️ Aular, Philipsen, Vernon, Turner
⭐️ Soler, Armirail, Fisher-Black, Labrosse, Frigo

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