La Vuelta a Espana 2024 Stage 4 LIVE: Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe prime Primoz Roglic ahead of first summit finish

It's a 13th stage win on the Vuelta for the Slovenian, who has bounced back in Spain more than Rafa Nadal's favourite tennis ball.

“It was super tough. The heat made it hard and also the entry to the climb was with a big group and so quite nervous. I didn’t have the best feeling but I saw I only lost 30 seconds so I can be happy. It was pretty calm all day – I think everyone was saving a bit, because if you go over your limit in this heat, you pay for it.

"Everybody knew that [Primoz Roglic] was going to be the favourite – as he always is in the Vuelta – so it was confirmation of that today. He rode from the bottom of the climb to the top, so he looked pretty strong to me.”

NEW TOP 10 ON GC AFTER STAGE 4

It’s all change in the general classification after the first of multiple summit finishes on this gruelling 79th edition of the Vuelta.

1 Primoz Roglic (Red Bull)
2. Joao Almeida (UAE) +08
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +32
4. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +38
5. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) +41
6. Felix Gall (Decathlon) +47
7. Brandon McNulty (UAE) +50
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +58
9. Mikel Landa (Soudal QS) +58
10. Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull) +1:00

Defending champion Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) is 13th at +1:14.

Asked whether he worked a lot for this victory, Primoz Roglic said:

“Yeah, the team even more than myself. It wasn’t necessarily the objective for today but when you see the guys riding hard in this heat, I’m happy to finish it off. If they’d asked me, I probably wouldn’t have told them to go so hard. But I had no option. It was tough.

"Hopefully things won’t get worse [with my back]. The goal remains to take things day by day. I always say, you never know when the last [win is], so you have to enjoy it. I’m just really happy, especially today with how well the whole team was working.”

That’s a 13th Vuelta stage win for the Slovenian, who soars into the red jersey…

1 Primoz Roglic (Red Bull)
2. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny)
3. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)
4. Enric Mas (Movistar)
5. Felix Gall (Decathlon)
6. Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)
7. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step)
8. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +18
9. George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech) +28
10. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) +28

Defending champion Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) was 11th.

The Slovenian pays back his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team for all their hard work – and that was a thrilling finale.

Mikel Landa made the connection and continued past. Lennert Van Eetvelt led the chase and looked destined to win – but a late surge from the Slovenian from his wheel denied the Belgian, who may well have already raised an arm in celebration before being pipped to the line.

The Slovenian pays back his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team for all their hard work – and that was a thrilling finale.

Mikel Landa made the connection and continued past. Lennert Van Eetvelt led the chase and looked destined to win – but a late surge from the Slovenian from his wheel denied the Belgian, who may well have already raised an arm in celebration before being pipped to the line.

Here's how close it was as they top two rounded the final bend...

Those two groups have joined forces and it’s Riccitello and Gall who look the sprightliest. Mikel Landa is bridging over too, which would throw the cat among the pigeons.

The steep stuff is over – for now – and the leading trio still have a gap of around 10 seconds on the chasing trio. They’re closing the gap so it may come back together before the finale.

The Swiss has been caught by Riccitello and Almeida in pursuit of the three leaders – Roglic, Van Eetvelt and Mas. This is a brute of a climb, up the steep corrugated concrete slabs and in direct sunshine.

Roglic has joined forces with Enric Mas and Belgian Lennert van Eetvelt of Lotto Dstny. They have Gall in their sights and the likes of Kuss, Almeida, Sivakov, Riccitello, RodrIguez and Carapaz in pursuit.

The Austrian Felix Gall has opened up a small gap for Decathlon. Behind, a select group has formed featuring the likes of Kuss, Almeida, Sivakob, Rodriguez, Roglic, Carapaz and Mas. But no sign of Yates or Skjelmose for now…

Almeida, Sivakov, Gall and Roglic have come to the front as the peloton strings out with a series of internal implosions. Kuss is preparing himself, too, but many have popped.

Armirail and Castrillo are swept up just as the peloton swings onto the steep stuff. UAE then string things out with a push from Pavel Sivakov. But Messrs Roglic and Carapaz are lurking with intent.

Lidl-Trek, UAE, Astana and Soudal Quick-Step have all flocked to the front now that the gap is down to 30 seconds. It seems odd for Bora to have done so much before disappearing, but perhaps they are planning something for later on once the road ramps up.

It’s a good gap, all things considered, but it won’t be enough in this heat and with the kind of terrain we have coming up.

Confirmation that third place in the sprint went to Kaden Groves ahead of Wout van Aert, so the Belgian’s lead is slashed to six points in the points jersey standings. He will be back in green tomorrow because he will not hold on to red.

The Cat.1 Pico Villuercas is 14.6km at 6.2%. It starts off in a sustained gentle fashion before ramping up to double-digits with 5km remaining. There are ramps of 20% and 15% ahead of the finish, where we should see a battle royale for the stage spoils and red jersey.

The two leaders – Armirail and Castrillo – only have 1’30” now. And Wout van Aert is already off the back…

Wout van Aert, in red, and Kaden Groves, in green, go shoulder-to-shoulder for the points for third place at Roturas in the intermediate sprint – and it’s impossible to tell who nicked that one. Let’s wait until we get official confirmation – but remember, only 8pts separated the Belgian and the Australian in this classification, so whatever happens today, Van Aert should be in green tomorrow after he concedes the red jersey on the final climb.

Alpecin-Deceuninck have joined Bora on the front as the gap comes down to 1’50”. That’s because the intermediate sprint precedes this final climb and they will want to propel their man Kaden Groves to come green jersey points… More than expected given the three other escapees have now been caught.