Roglic wins first mountain finish to take the red jersey at La Vuelta

Slovenian rider Primož Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) has taken the lead at La Vuelta a Espana after winning Tuesday's stage four in a sprint up the final climb to the Pico Villuercas.

Primoz Roglic put any doubts over his form by the wayside, with a tight win ahead of Lennert Van Eetvelt on the brutally steep and hot slopes of Pico Villuercas on stage 4.

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe left no doubt about its ambitions throughout the day at the Vuelta's first mountaintop finish. The team controlled the breakaway for over 100 kilometres in temperatures approaching 40 degrees. 

The steepest sections were in the last 5 kilometres of the stage and a small group of riders had already formed after just a few metres.

Primož Roglic led the group from the front to the line, fending off all attacks. The Slovenian was part of six riders left as they approached the finish line together with 2km to go.

Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) attacked and  Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) countered. 

However. Roglic was straight onto the wheel of the young Belgian who started to celebrated to early as Roglic stole the show on the line.

He now holds an 8 second advantage over Joao Almeida, with Movistar's Enric Mas 32 seconds behind.

Defending champion Sepp Kuss was dropped on the final climb and finished 13th overall 1m 14s in arrears.

Roglic revealed that taking a stage win and the race lead this early on was never part of his team’s plan, "It was not actually the main objective of today, but when you see our guys riding hard in this heat, I was happy that I could then finish it off," he said. "Nobody asked me how I was feeling if they did then I probably wouldn’t have said it, to go so hard and to control it for the victory, but I had no option."

Roglic admitted that his back injury sustained during a crash at the Tour de France was still causing him pain. But he showed no sign of any discomfort as he took the race lead.

HIGHLIGHTS: 2024 La Vuelta Stage 4

2024 La Vuelta Stage 4 Top 10

1  ROGLIC Primož Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 4:26:49
2  VAN EETVELT Lennert Lotto Dstny 0:00
3  ALMEIDA João UAE Team Emirates 0:00
4  MAS Enric Movistar Team 0:00
5  GALL Felix Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 0:00
6  RICCITELLO Matthew Israel - Premier Tech 0:00
7  LANDA Mikel Soudal Quick-Step 0:00
8  TIBERI Antonio Bahrain - Victorious 0:18
9  BENNETT George Israel - Premier Tech 0:28
10  SIVAKOV Pavel UAE Team Emirates 0:28

2024 La Vuelta GC after Stage 4

1  ROGLIC Primož Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 14:33:08
2  ALMEIDA João UAE Team Emirates 0:08
3  MAS Enric Movistar Team 0:32
4  TIBERI Antonio Bahrain - Victorious 0:38
5  VAN EETVELT Lennert Lotto Dstny 0:41
6  GALL Felix Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 0:47
7  MCNULTY Brandon UAE Team Emirates 0:50
8  SKJELMOSE Mattias Lidl - Trek 0:58
9  LANDA Mikel Soudal Quick-Step ,,
10  VLASOV Aleksandr Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 1:00