Vuelta espana

Jumbo-Visma have now had led this year's race with four different leaders.

He almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains. Reporting from races, long interviews with riders from the peloton and riding features drive his love of writing about all things two wheels. "I mean, it's really just the beginning." "The leader's jersey brings with it a lot of obligations and it was clear that we wouldn't control [the race] on sprint stages. "Today was my lucky day and we see what tomorrow brings." We have one guy who doesn't want to have the leader's jersey at this stage of the race, and that's Primož.

Defending champion Primoz Roglic became the fourth Jumbo-Visma rider to don the red jersey in La Vuelta after a superb Stage 4 win in the Basque Country. Roglic ...

A big battle between Jumbo and Ineos preceded the Puerto de Herrara, but it was Pedersen’s Trek-Segafredo team which took up residency on the front. Debutant Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) rose to sixth place at 27 seconds after finishing strongly in eighth place behind Hayter, the white jersey. He did so with gusto, launching from the wheel of the impressive Pedersen to take the win by around six bike lengths. The Belgian is five seconds clear of another Ineos duo, Richard Carapaz of Ecuador and Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez. “I’m super happy but it’s really just the beginning of La Vuelta,” Roglic said after his latest exploit in Spain. If it was the kind of finish that had Roglic’s name metaphorically written all over it, the Slovenian still had to deliver the goods.

Elsewhere, Sam Bennett retains the points jersey and Ethan Hayter stays in white while Joan Bou of Euskaltel-Euskadi takes over the polka dot mountain jersey.

Attacks are flying to start the stage. The gap for the break is up to three minutes now. There are plenty of home representatives for Basque fans to cheer over the next few days. Back then, Roglič and Marc Soler took stage wins in Arrate and Lekunberri as Irún hosted the race start. They have the overall race lead and occupy the top six spots on GC after winning the opening TTT in Utrecht, of course. With the breakaway's lead, Lutsenko is now in the virtual red jersey. Five points for the Euskaltel rider and he's now in the lead of the mountain classification! Jumbo-Visma and Bora-Hansgrohe remain in control in the peloton. No change in the situation up front as the six men remain all together. The gap between the peloton and break is coming down again now. In the end I had the legs and I was able to prove it." All the GC names are just staying safe and in touch at the front.

The defending champion Primoz Roglic took the overall leader's red jersey at the Vuelta a España on Tuesday after he stormed to victory on stage four.

I had the legs so I gave it a go.” Enric Mas claimed third place for Movistar ahead of the French duo Quentin Pacher and Pavel Sivakov. “It was already a hard pace the whole day, with a super fast and hard stage.

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“The team did a great job today to control the stage,” Roglič said. “I had the legs and it’s my first stage win of this Vuelta.” “A nice way to keep the jersey on the team.” Jumbo-Visma won the opening day team time trial, and has since played hot potato with the jersey. Enric Mas (Movistar) trailed through third, and there were only 12 riders to make it through on the same time. “It’s a nice surprise and I am super happy,” Roglič said.

Stage four of the 2022 Vuelta a España: the race's return to its trademark punchy stages and the first uphill finish on a route that contains nine (yes, ...

It’s on this sort of terrain that Roglič won’t be able to use the fast kick he can produce on steep gradients to get one up on his GC rivals. In this year’s Vuelta a España, there’s an important individual time trial and a number of uphill finishes still to come, and Roglič is already in red. From then on Roglič and Carapaz flip flopped between the race lead, but Roglič took it for good on the 30 kilometre time trial of stage 13, taking it all the way to the end of the race. In 2021, Roglič, once again, won the time trial to Burgos, taking the red jersey for a couple of stages before handing it over to some non-GC contenders who were never realistically going to take the overall victory. In 2019, he won stage ten, a 36 kilometre time trial to Pau and held on to the red jersey for 11 stages until the race concluded with a sprint in Madrid. [Vuelta a España](https://www.rouleur.cc/pages/vuelta-a-espana): the race’s return to its trademark punchy stages and the first uphill finish on a route that contains nine (yes, nine) summit finishes.

The Slovenian launched a powerful final acceleration to beat Mads Pedersen in the Basque Country.

Roglič timed his final kick to the line perfectly to power past the Danish rider and land an impressive stage win along with the red jersey of the overall leader. The final ramp to the line began to bite and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) attacked although he was unable to sustain his effort. Rémi Cavagna (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) was leading the chase in the peloton and thanks to the mammoth effort from the Frenchman, the race was soon all back together for the final phase of the day's action. With 14 kilometres to go Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) launched a stinging attack which was answered by Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma). A group of other riders were able to follow Alaphilippe and Roglič including Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha-Vinyl). The 7.3 kilometre long climb was beginning to bite and race leader Affini was one of the biggest victims. At 23 kilometres left to race the peloton was beginning to split and Bennett was soon distanced as they reached the bottom of the climb. After a long transfer from the Netherlands, stage four between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Laguardia was the first on Spanish soil at the 2022 edition of the Vuelta a España. At 92 kilometres to go the leaders were onto the category two climb of the Puerto de Opakua and were led over the summit by Bou. Jumbo-Visma and Bora-Hansgrohe began to go to work on the front of the peloton and slowly began to eat into the breakaways advantage. 180 riders began the stage and after a flurry of initial attacks, six men managed to form a breakaway. Pedersen was the next to go although was unable to sustain his effort.

The Slovenian three-time defending champion claims victory in a medium mountain stage as the Vuelta returned to Spain on Tuesday (23 August 2022).

- Stage 19: 9 September, Talavera de la Reina to Talavera de la Reina (138.3km) However, Pedersen ultimately had no answer for the seasoned climber Roglic as the Dane sat down in the closing metres, crossing the line second once more. - Stage 20: 10 September, Moralzarzal to Puerto de Navacerrada (181km) Trek were instead working for Mads Pedersen, the 2019 world champion who had finished second on the previous two pure sprint stages but had made it over Stage 4's medium mountains. That was the signal for Roglic and his teammates, who worked hard to position the Slovenian heading into the day's second climb, a Category-3 trek up the Puerto de Herrera. - Stage 18: 8 September, Trujillo to Alto de Piornal (192km)

Primoz Roglic has won the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España in a convincing way. On the steep final climb, the Slovenian outsprinted the competition and…

"The atmosphere around the team is very positive. The stage win is the finest way to reward that." With this victory, the triple Vuelta winner took his fifth win of the season. "A dream scenario for the team”, Roglic said a few minutes after his victory. The 32-year-old Slovenian is now the fourth Team Jumbo-Visma rider to hold the red leader's jersey in as many stages in this Vuelta. On the steep final climb, the Slovenian outsprinted the competition and clinched his tenth Tour of Spain stage victory.

A tricky medium mountain stage in the Basque Country featuring a total of five climbs. Two of those climbs are the second-category Alto del Vivero, which the ...

With Roglič now in red, Jumbo-Visma would be happy to control the race and let a break take the sting out of the day. Two of those climbs are the second-category Alto del Vivero, which the riders will crest with 43 km and 14 km to go. A tricky medium mountain stage in the Basque Country featuring a total of five climbs.

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“I hope to be in the breakaways today and tomorrow and play our cards from there,” Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) said Tuesday. “Once we get to Spain, it’s a typical Vuelta. “There’s never any time to rest in the Vuelta.” I think there’s going to be a lot of damage done to the peloton these next few days.” “The breakaway will depend on how the big teams tackle the race, but we hope to be at the front and we have faith in our options.” “It’s just the beginning of the Vuelta but it’s always better to be a few seconds in front,” Roglič said after kicking to victory Tuesday.

Alejandro Valverde, Mikel Landa and Wilco Kelderman have criticised a "very nervous" start to the 2022 Vuelta a Espana in the Netherlands.

I didn’t crash, only because we were controlling things incredibly well. “I don’t want to say more because I will get angry. "The stages were very nervous," Landa revealed. "So many bends and cobbles, [Dutch province] Brabant is not really made for a big Tour. "In general we had a lot of scares on the bike," the "There were a lot of speed bumps on the road and we rode on a lot of roads we are not used to.

The route, favourites and predictions for stage four of the 2022 Vuelta a España, on August 24, where riders will take on a hilly route in the Basque ...

After the second descent into Bilbao, the final 200m are flat, and if the punchier sprinters have managed to hold on over the two tough passes of the final climb they may contest a reduced bunch sprint. The climb is a category 2, just 4.6km in length but sharp and punchy, with an average gradient of 8% - this doesn’t tell the whole story, though, as in several places there are pitches in the double digits. Heading away from the coast, the climbing begins with a pair of third category climbs in quick succession. This longer climb of 8.6km is not as steep – just 3.5% on average across its distance – but the pace will start to wind up as with just over 60km to go, the race heads south towards Bilbao. The day begins in the city of Irun, which sits on the North-East border with France. That race was won by one Remco Evenepoel just a few weeks ago, and the young Belgian might see the day as an opportunity to exert his dominance, on terrain with which he is very familiar.

Things return to normal, as Primoz Roglic took the win on the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana in the uphill sprint at Laguardia. It was a hard day overall, ...

There will be 3000 meters of climbing, it will be no easy day for anyone, with a lot of small ascents in the first half, and the main climbs of the day late on. That can come from many different riders, but it’s a gamble if you go into dozens of riders and try to pick which will succeed or not. Jumbo-Visma have taken two wins and have Roglic in the lead of the race already. The sprint will then be flat, on urban roads, without too much difficulty as there are no expectations of a large group fighting for the win. The race will reach the outskirts of Bilbao however and go on a double ascent of one of it’s most famous climbs. Riders such as Sergio Higuita, Alejandro Valverde and João Almeida could benefit from a hard race that could then end in a sprint. This finale won’t be ideal for him as the climbs are longer than he’d want, but he seems to be capable of handling it. The likes of Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel will be perfect for this kind of climb, they can both descend and sprint relatively well too. A hilly day, and a traditional finale in Bilbao which will make for an interesting and very open day early in the race. It will be the Alto del Vivero. Trek led the sprint for Mads Pedersen, but he couldn’t hold the pace of Roglic who took the win and the race lead. It was a hard day overall, but a sprint was inevitable up the final climb.

Double ascent of the Alto del Vivero precedes downhill run-in to the finish.

Roll-out is coming up in just over five minutes, the start proper closer to the hour. Blue skies and temperatures nearing 30 degrees in Irún, right on the French border. But the most likely outcome could be a breakaway victory. We could see the first real fight for a breakaway of this Vuelta. With this sort of terrain, and with enough question marks over who'll control the peloton, there should be a fair bit of interest in today's escape. Today's stage is an interesting one, which could go a number of ways. Hayter might be the sort of fast finisher who could get over today's final climb, but Ineos won't control all day and he doesn't look like he wants to gamble. It was a massive moment for rider, team and race. A fast and frantic start! The Alto de Vivero is practically in Igor Antón's back garden. We've been racing for a shade under an hour. [Vuelta a España – Results and news](https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/vuelta-a-espana-2022/) [How to watch the Vuelta a España – live TV and streaming](https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/how-to-watch-the-2022-vuelta-a-espana-live-tv-and-streaming/) [Bandit country: What the Basque stages holds in store for the Vuelta a España](https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/bandit-country-what-the-basque-stages-holds-in-store-for-the-vuelta-a-espana/) [Local hero – Igor Antón's electrifying 2011 Vuelta a España victory in Bilbao](https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/local-hero-igor-antons-electrifying-2011-vuelta-a-espana-victory-in-bilbao/)

As the Vuelta returns to the Alto del Vivero, Basque rider re-lives that famous day and tells us the secrets of his home climb.

But when they saw on TV that I was in the break, they all came out even sooner to watch it go past and cheer me on a bit." So, a team with a sprinter chasing behind could begin to organise themselves and try and pull back the move," Antón warns. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters. "The drop-down to Bilbao is very fast, a 4% gradient at most and big ring stuff. "My first goal in the Vuelta that year was to go for the overall, but I got sick and wasn't in great shape form-wise. But it's not like some climbs which are like a narrow funnel, and which mean either you have to be on the front or put your foot down. "It was more a question of enjoying the moment. "But then I got sixth on the Angliru and then when we went up Peña Cabarga again, where Chris Froome won, I got fifth. There's a picnic area at the top local families use a lot for barbecues and some spectacular views of Bilbao and we'd go up there all the time." Then when I heard the Vuelta would be coming through my village, going over the Alto del Vivero and then onto Bilbao, well, that was even more amazing." Antón hasn't moved on, geographically speaking, still living in the place where he grew up and close to where he took the most significant win of his career. But then Antón did it all over again, after dropping his breakaway companions with 18km to go and going solo over the top of the Alto del Vivero.

Basque-backed team racing with pride and ambition on 'home roads' in quest in return to glory.

That’s the objective of the team, to try to win this jersey or to win a stage. “It would be great if the team could deliver a stage victory these next few days. The team’s trademark orange jersey returned in 2018. “The objective will be to try to hang on for as long as I can, and it would be nice to wear the jersey for a few more stages. “Everyone inside the bus knows how important these stages are for the team, our sponsors, and our fans,” Luis Ángel Maté told VeloNews. I had seen the main climb the day before and I could manage my efforts and gain the mountain points.

Marc Soler stole the show in Bilbao to give Spain its first stage win in a Grand Tour for almost two years as Frenchman Rudy Molard took the red jersey from ...

Soler kept pressing on and held a slender 10-second gap over the top as Molard took those two vital bonus seconds for taking second place. Trailing Roglic by 58 seconds ahead of the stage, Molard made it his job to stick as tightly as possible to the wheel of Wright, the second-best placed rider in the standings at 1’02”. Monaco’s Langellotti crested all three of the Cat.3 climbs in pole position to move into the virtual lead of the polka dot jersey standings. Having missed the move, Soler bridged over to the leaders where he replaced Jaakko Hanninen (Ag2R-Citroen) after the Finn crashed into the barriers on a descent. Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) showcased his never-say-die spirit with a typically yo-yoing ride to secure the host nation’s first stage win on any Grand Tour for almost two years. Second place over the top was enough to guarantee the 27-year-old Grand Tour debutant the polka dot jersey – and the insatiable Langellotti followed it up by leading the breakaway through the intermediate sprint at the first crossing of the finish line in Bilbao. Wright took over the white jersey as best young rider while his fellow escapee Victor Langellotti – a late call-up to the Burgos-BH team and the first rider from Monaco to ride the Vuelta – took over the polka dot jersey after taking maximum points over the first three climbs of the day. While the stage profile looked ideally suited for a breakaway, it took 74km for the day’s move to go – a strong and cosmopolitan group of 18 riders coming together ahead of the first of three Cat.3 ascents, the Puerto de Gontzagarigana. Frenchman Molard took fourth place on the lumpy 187.2km stage from Irun but now leads the race ahead of British youngster Wright thanks to the two bonus seconds he picked up for cresting the second ascent of the decisive Puerto del Vivero in second place behind Soler. [La Vuelta GC standings](https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/standing.shtml) [Stage 5 as it happened: Soler holds on as Molard denies Wright red](https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/2022/live-irun-bilbao_mtc1327541/live-commentary.shtml) [La Vuelta 2022 Stage 5: results and standings](https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/standing.shtml) Not only did Soler have to bridge over to a large breakaway on the first of five categorised climbs, but the 28-year-old livewire was forced to battle back after being dropped on the final ascent before soloing to the second Vuelta stage win of his career. It was his first in the Vuelta since winning Stage 2 in 2020 - and a first for Spain in any Grand Tour since Ion Izagirre's Stage 6 triumph in the same race in 2020.

Marc Soler stole the show in Bilbao to give Spain its first stage win in a Grand Tour for almost two years as Frenchman Rudy Molard took the red jersey from ...

Soler kept pressing on and held a slender 10-second gap over the top as Molard took those two vital bonus seconds for taking second place. Trailing Roglic by 58 seconds ahead of the stage, Molard made it his job to stick as tightly as possible to the wheel of Wright, the second-best placed rider in the standings at 1’02”. Monaco’s Langellotti crested all three of the Cat.3 climbs in pole position to move into the virtual lead of the polka dot jersey standings. Having missed the move, Soler bridged over to the leaders where he replaced Jaakko Hanninen (Ag2R-Citroen) after the Finn crashed into the barriers on a descent. Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) showcased his never-say-die spirit with a typically yo-yoing ride to secure the host nation’s first stage win on any Grand Tour for almost two years. Second place over the top was enough to guarantee the 27-year-old Grand Tour debutant the polka dot jersey – and the insatiable Langellotti followed it up by leading the breakaway through the intermediate sprint at the first crossing of the finish line in Bilbao. And when Craddock made the first move in the break by riding clear on the first of two ascents of the Cat.2 Puerto del Vivero, it was Langellotti who led the chase and almost caught the American just ahead of the summit. Wright took over the white jersey as best young rider while his fellow escapee Victor Langellotti – a late call-up to the Burgos-BH team and the first rider from Monaco to ride the Vuelta – took over the polka dot jersey after taking maximum points over the first three climbs of the day. While the stage profile looked ideally suited for a breakaway, it took 74km for the day’s move to go – a strong and cosmopolitan group of 18 riders coming together ahead of the first of three Cat.3 ascents, the Puerto de Gontzagarigana. Frenchman Molard took fourth place on the lumpy 187.2km stage from Irun but now leads the race ahead of British youngster Wright thanks to the two bonus seconds he picked up for cresting the second ascent of the decisive Puerto del Vivero in second place behind Soler. Not only did Soler have to bridge over to a large breakaway on the first of five categorised climbs, but the 28-year-old livewire was forced to battle back after being dropped on the final ascent before soloing to the second Vuelta stage win of his career. It was his first in the Vuelta since winning Stage 2 in 2020 - and a first for Spain in any Grand Tour since Ion Izagirre's Stage 6 triumph in the same race in 2020.

The 181.2 kilometer stage from Bilbao will take in the first-ever stage finish atop the Ascensión al Pico Jano. San Miguel de Aguayo, and should see fireworks.

The sprint is in the foothills of the day’s final climb, the Ascensión al Pico Jano. Alternatively one of his main rivals may start to make a big push for the final Vuelta title. It is 12.6 km in length, averages 6.55 percent and has three stretches of 11 percent or over. That is followed by the day’s intermediate sprint at Santa Cruz de Iguña but, in all likelihood, the difficulty of the terrain should put the sprinters out of contention for points there. This averages 8.2 percent over 6.8 kilometers but includes pitches of 15 percent, providing a possible platform for attacks prior to the day’s summit finish. Things begin humanely enough with an undulating opening hour and a half.

Marc Soler ended Spain's long wait for a Grand Tour stage win, while Rudy Molard took the red jersey away from Jumbo-Visma.

It still looked as though he would be caught on the descent into Bilbao but he maintained a slender lead to claim the second Vuelta stage win of his career. Thursday’s stage includes the first category one climb of this year’s race with a summit finish at San Miguel de Aguayo. The defending champion, Primoz Roglic, took the overall lead on Tuesday but finished back in the peloton and is now fifth, four minutes and nine seconds back.

The Spanish rider soloes to the stage win as Rudy Molard takes the race lead.

5 19 5:09 He was still clear going into the final kilometer and a stall with 500 meters to go sealed the chasers’ fate. Soler had been dropped earlier on the climb but got back to the others and then made a big effort heading into the final 17km. He rode powerfully heading onto the second ascent of the Alto del Vivero and had a 40-second advantage with 18km remaining. The dozen leaders had an advantage of five minutes there, making it certain that one of the riders from the break would take the stage. All were brought back, as was an effort by Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). Roglič finished as part of the main bunch 5:09 back and slips to fifth. The climbs began with the third category ascents of the Puerto de Gontzagarigana (km 95.6), the Balcón de Bizkaia (km 102.4) and the Alto de Morga (km 125.4). He is now two seconds clear of Wright, with Nikias Arndt (Team DSM) third, 1:09 back. Soler did things the hard way, missing the initial 17-man breakaway and then bridging across alone.