Vuelta a España stage 4 preview: Will Pogacar blow the race apart where it all began?

There is almost nowhere to hide on stage 4.

After the chaos of stage 3, which was cancelled due to a severe hailstorm with around 16 kilometres remaining, there will be little time for the peloton to recover as the Vuelta heads into its first major mountain test.

Only 104.8 kilometres separate the start and finish in Andorra la Vella, but the riders will accumulate 2,830 metres of elevation gain and tackle four classified climbs, three of them category 1.

The climbing begins almost immediately with the Port d'Envalira and barely stops until the final descent back into the Andorran capital.

Short mountain stages have a habit of producing aggressive racing because there is so little time to recover from mistakes. Here, the combination of altitude, steep gradients and repeated climbing makes the stage especially difficult to control.

For Tadej Pogačar, this looks like the clearest opportunity of the opening week to take serious time in his quest to complete the Grand Tour set, on the same Andorran roads where he announced himself to the wider cycling world with his first Grand Tour stage win at the 2019 Vuelta.

Key information:

• Start: 14:49 (CEST)
• Estimated Finish: 17:22 (CEST)
• Stage type: Mountains
• Stage length: 104.8km
• Elevation gain: 2,830m

Follow stage 4 live at Domestique with our live reporting.

Stage 4 begins climbing almost as soon as the flag drops.

After leaving Andorra la Vella and passing through Encamp, Canillo, El Tarter and Soldeu, the peloton heads towards the Port d'Envalira. The official climb begins after only 1.8 kilometres of racing.

At 23.3km and 5.1%, Envalira is not brutally steep, but there is nothing gentle about starting a mountain stage with more than an hour of continuous climbing.

The summit comes after just 25.1 kilometres at 2,409 metres above sea level, making it the highest point of the stage. The climb gains 1,210 vertical metres and contains sections reaching around 12%, with much of the more difficult terrain coming towards the top.

That opening could make the fight for the breakaway particularly chaotic. Strong climbers can attack almost immediately, while teams with general classification ambitions have to decide whether to let a dangerous group disappear or begin controlling the race from kilometre one.

After Envalira comes the longest descent of the day. The riders pass through Pas de la Casa before heading through the Envalira tunnel and back towards Encamp.

There will be little opportunity to relax. With 52 kilometres remaining, the road rises again towards the Collada de Beixalís, arguably the most explosive climb of the stage.

Beixalís is only 6.5km long but averages a punishing 8.5%, with sections reaching 16%. With the summit still 45.5 kilometres from the finish, it is unlikely to be the decisive climb, but a hard pace from UAE Team Emirates-XRG could already leave several GC leaders isolated.

The descent takes the riders towards Ordino, where the third category 1 climb begins almost immediately.

The Coll d'Ordino is 9.9km at 7%. It is less violent than Beixalís but considerably longer, making it perhaps the most obvious place for sustained GC pressure.

Its summit sits at 1,989 metres, with only 26.1 kilometres remaining. Anyone already isolated after Beixalís could be in serious trouble here.

From the top of Ordino, the riders descend through Canillo and Encamp before the road turns uphill one final time in Escaldes Engordany.

With 8.7 kilometres remaining, the Alto de La Comella begins. At 3.9km and 5.9%, it is far less imposing on paper than the climbs that precede it, but after close to 3,000 metres of elevation gain it could prove far more selective than the numbers suggest.

The summit comes just 4.8 kilometres from the finish, leaving only a fast descent into Andorra la Vella. Any rider able to create a gap on La Comella will therefore have an immediate opportunity to carry it all the way to the line.

• Port d'Envalira | 1st category | 23.3km at 5.1% | summit at 2,409m | 79.7km to go
• Collada de Beixalís | 1st category | 6.5km at 8.5% | summit at 1,803m | 45.5km to go
• Coll d'Ordino | 1st category | 9.9km at 7% | summit at 1,989m | 26.1km to go
• Alto de La Comella | 3rd category | 3.9km at 5.9% | summit at 1,347m | 4.8km to go

There is little doubt over who starts as the biggest favourite.

Tadej Pogačar has almost everything stage 4 demands. The relentless sequence of climbs rewards repeated accelerations, recovery between efforts and the strength to keep attacking deep into the race, all areas in which the Slovenian is arguably the best in the peloton.

The short distance should only encourage the kind of aggressive racing in which Pogačar tends to thrive.

UAE also have a strong second card in João Almeida.

The Portuguese rider lives in Andorra and knows these roads exceptionally well. In most teams he would arrive as the undisputed GC leader.

Almeida is unlikely to match Pogačar when the Slovenian attacks, but a hard race from distance should suit him just as well. And if he surprisingly finds himself as the last UAE rider alongside his leader deep into the finale, there is always the possibility that Pogačar hands him the chance to take the stage win.

Behind UAE, Felix Gall looks like one of the riders most naturally suited to the parcours.

Second behind Vingegaard at the Giro earlier this season, Gall arrives after winning the Vuelta a Burgos, where he attacked alone on stage 3 and held off Oscar Onley to take the stage and eventually the overall victory.

He may lack Pogačar's acceleration, but if the stage becomes a pure climbing contest he should be among the last riders standing.

Enric Mas is another rider with intimate knowledge of the Andorran roads.

The Movistar leader lives close to the principality and reconned the stage shortly before the race. He has already admitted that he expects Pogačar to make a significant difference here, which perhaps says plenty about how difficult it will be to race the Slovenian directly.

Mas is rarely the most explosive rider in a GC group, but that matters less if the decisive move comes on Ordino rather than in the final kilometre.

Mattias Skjelmose is a slightly different proposition.

The Lidl-Trek leader finished sixth at the Tour de France and combines strong climbing with more explosiveness than many of the pure mountain specialists around him.

The severity of Beixalís could test him, but if he can remain with the strongest riders until La Comella, his finishing speed makes him dangerous.

The same is true to an extent for Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos).

Fourth at the 2025 Tour de France, the Briton's 2026 season was badly disrupted by illness and injury. A crash at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes dislocated his shoulder and required surgery, forcing him to miss the Tour.

His return at the Vuelta a Burgos was therefore particularly encouraging. Onley immediately won stage 2 and went on to finish second overall behind Gall. Stage 4 will provide a much clearer answer about whether he is already capable of competing with the very best over repeated high mountain efforts.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) may be the rider most likely to refuse to wait for Pogačar.

The Ecuadorian remains one of the peloton's most aggressive GC contenders and comes to the Vuelta after winning two stages from long range at the Tour de France and finishing eighth overall.

A conventional race in which UAE controls everything until La Comella is unlikely to favour him. A chaotic race beginning on Beixalís or even earlier is a completely different story.

That willingness to gamble makes Carapaz particularly interesting on a stage where hesitation can be costly.

Primož Roglič arrives at stage 4 with more questions than answers over his current condition.

The Slovenian was hit by a car while training in late July, forcing him to miss both the Clásica San Sebastián and the Vuelta a Burgos. His participation in the Vuelta remained uncertain until Red Bull confirmed him only days before the Grand Départ in Monaco.

Sport director Sven Vanthourenhout has already played down expectations, admitting the team must be realistic about Roglič's GC prospects after such a disrupted preparation.

Tuesday will provide the first serious indication of where he stands.

UAE Team Emirates XRG, meanwhile, appear unlikely to give a breakaway much room.

The team regularly controlled stages with Pogačar at the Tour de France and again committed heavily to the chase on stage 3 before the race was abandoned. With the gaps between Pogačar and his main GC rivals still small, another aggressive approach would be no surprise.

If a breakaway is allowed to contest the victory, Pello Bilbao is one of the strongest candidates. The Basque rider missed the Tour de France because of illness and arrives at the Vuelta with fewer race days in his legs. With Santiago Buitrago leading Bahrain Victorious' GC challenge, Bilbao should also have more freedom to target stages.

A victory would complete his collection of stage wins across all three Grand Tours.

For Visma | Lease a Bike, Sepp Kuss could be a serious candidate for victory on his home roads. The American has won stages in all three Grand Tours and has the freedom within the team to pursue his own opportunities. The bigger question is whether the peloton will allow him that freedom, given that he has yet to lose significant time in the general classification.

Mikel Landa should have similar freedom at Soudal Quick Step. The Spaniard has increasingly targeted mountain stages from breakaways in recent seasons, and a short day packed with climbing offers exactly the kind of terrain on which he can be dangerous. There is some uncertainty, however, with Landa himself expressing doubts about his current form.

Emanuel Buchmann is another possible option from the break. Cofidis have made stage victories a priority at this Vuelta and the former Tour de France fourth place finisher remains capable of surviving a demanding day in the mountains.

Among the younger riders, Markel Beloki is one to watch for EF Education-EasyPost, while Jakob Omrzel faces his first major mountain test on his Grand Tour debut with Bahrain Victorious.