Ruthless Pogacar crushes rivals with 50km solo raid on Vuelta stage 4

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) soloed 50km to victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España in Andorra la Vella, delivering yet another statement performance in his quest to complete the Grand Tour set. 

After the first summit finish to Font Romeu was cancelled due to hailstorms, Tuesday's stage presented the first major GC challenge with over 3,000m of elevation gain packed into just 104.8km to Andorra la Vella. 

Decathlon CMA CGM took up the pace-setting early on in the stage, signalling their ambitions, but Pogačar proved to be in a league of his own when he attacked from a strung-out peloton on the lower slopes of the Collada de Beixalis with 50km remaining. 

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) was the only rider who dared to try and follow the world champion, but the Austrian was quickly dispatched by Pogačar and was collected by a larger chase group. 

It took the Slovenian just three kilometres to build an advantage of over a minute, and by the summit, it was just a case of how much he would win by. 

Over the ascents and descents of the Coll d’Ordino and Alto de la Comella, Pogačar continued to extend his lead to the finish in Andorra la Vella, where he celebrated another commanding victory. 

Behind, it was Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché) who sprinted to an impressive second place from a chasing group of six riders, 2:39 behind Pogačar.

Pogačar's 129th professional victory marks his longest solo victory in a Grand Tour stage, eclipsing his win on stage 6 of the Tour de France in July.

With two victories in three completed stages, Pogačar now leads the Vuelta by 3:21 over Primož Roglič , and 3:32  over Enric Mas (Movistar) in third, as he already moves a significant leap forward to becoming the ninth male rider to win all the Grand Tours.

As the flag dropped, the road began to immediately rise, as Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took to the front to set a solid tempo. 

The first attack came from Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma), before Steven Kruijswijk (Visma | Lease a Bike), racing the final Grand Tour of his career, stretched out his legs, forming a large group. 

Multiple riders managed to jump across to the lead group, which included over half of the Visma | Lease a Bike squad, as UAE continued to maintain their own tempo behind.

The front group featuring Bruno Armirail, Matthew Brennan, Ben Tulett and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), started to whittle as the climb grew longer,

Interestingly, Decathlon CMA CGM decided to move to the front of the peloton and began to pace, as João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) were among those distanced from the peloton.

The breakaway’s advantage reached the one-minute mark with 86km to go, but the group continued to slim in size with Van Aert among those distanced.

A couple of kilometres from the summit, Armirail and Brennan were also distanced from the head of the race, as the breakaway's advantage was slashed to less than half a minute.

Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) claimed maximum points at the summit, out-sprinting Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), but just a few kilometres later, the front group was reeled in by the Decathlon-led peloton. 

At the foot of the Collada de Beixalis, with 52km remaining, UAE, who only had two teammates left in the group to support Pogačar, re-asserted themselves at the front of the peloton as Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) set a strong tempo. 

Decathlon fought back to take control, and with 51km remaining, there were fewer than 10 riders left at the head of the race. Just a few hundred metres later, Pogačar made his move, and only Gall was able to initially respond. 

The Austrian fought valiantly to hold the race leader’s wheel for a short while, but he would have to relent as the red jersey sailed into the distance. 

Behind Gall, a larger chase group of around 15 riders was formed, which was led by Juan Felipe Rodríguez (EF Education-EasyPost), who was setting the tempo for Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

Gall was reeled in by the group with 48km remaining, as Pogačar extended his advantage beyond the minute mark, just 3km after attacking. By the time he crested the climb with 45km remaining, Pogačar was 1:25 ahead of the chasers.

Onto the Coll d’Ordino, with 35km to go, there was a stalemate in the chasing group as they began their own race behind Pogačar, who was now two minutes ahead. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) saw this as an opportunity to break clear, but Decathlon were able to restore order to reel him in.

Decathlon’s pace was a firm one, which opened the trapdoor for several riders, before Gall and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) pulled clear with 32km remaining. 

A kilometre later, Roglič made light work of jumping across to Gall and Onley, before Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mas also bridged their way across. 

Carapaz led the third chase group on the road and was joined by Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché).

With around a couple of kilometres to the summit, Gall was noticeably struggling in the chasing group, but the Austrian managed to hold on over the summit, despite an acceleration from Mas. 

On the descent of the Coll d’Ordino, the two chase groups reunited with one another, as Pogačar held a lead of over three minutes with 10km remaining as he approached the Alto de la Comella.

Mühlberger once more was tasked with setting the pace in the chase group, and the Austrian’s efforts saw Skjelmose distanced, before he was joined by the Austrian. 

Carapaz was next to be distanced, before an acceleration from Onley towards the summit saw Roglič begin to fade. However, the Slovenian was able to close the gap on the descent, and contest the fast finale.