Vuelta a Espana 2016 Stage 4

photo credits @ ASO

Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) soloed to victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España after forging clear on the final ascent of the Alto Mirador de Veixia. The Frenchman held off the late pursuit of Darwin Atapuma (BMC), who had the considerable consolation of taking possession of the red jersey of race leader.

Calmejane and Atapuma were part of the 21-man break that formed with a shade over 110 kilometers still to race on the Vuelta’s fourth successive day on the rugged roads of Galicia, and though the Colombian began the stage just 1:35 off the red jersey of Ruben Fernandez, Movistar were content to allow them some leeway ahead of the final climb.

excerpts from La Vuelta…

France’s Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) seized his chance in the finale of stage 4 to hand his country its second victory in two days after the second successful breakaway in succession on the Tour of Spain. The 23-year-old neo-pro parted with his 20 breakaway companions in the climb to the Vixa de Hebeira viewpoint to snatch victory in his first ever Grand Tour. Colombian Darwin Atapuma (BMC) finished second, 11 seconds behind, and took the red jersey away from Spain’s Ruben Fernandez, who faltered in the finale while all the favorites finished together, 2:06 behind the Frenchman.

197 riders started at 13:33. Nineteen riders broke clear in the first ascent of the day, the third category Alto de Capella, including red jersey holder Ruben Fernandez, forcing Team Sky to chase to close the gap. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) was first at the top ahead of Egor Silin (Katusha) and Pierre Rolland(Cannondale) and the Belgian went on in the descent. He was rapidly joined by twenty other riders: Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Enrico Battaglin (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Andrey Zeits (Astana), Nikias Arndt and Chad Haga (Giant-Alpecin), Axel Domont (AG2R-La Mondiale), Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick Step), Benjamin King and Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Nathan Haas and Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data), Lawrence Warbasse and Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling), Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida), Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis), Cesare Benedetti and Scott Thwaites (Bora-Argon18), Angel Madrazo and Jaime Roson (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie). Their lead reached 1:55 at kilometer 50.

The race lost two more riders: Vicente Reyes (IAM Cycling) and Federico Zurlo (Lampre-Merida) at that stage.

De Gendt again collected the points at the top of the second climb of the stage, Alto Monte Caxado (Km 58.3), ahead of Domont and Madrazo. The gap reached 4:45 with 70 km to go over a bunch constantly led by Fernandez’s Movistar team-mates. It went up to 5:30 in the last 25 kilometers when De Gendt, Stybar, Grmay and twice Domont tried to attack in turn. The young AG2R rider found himself on his own with 12 km to go as Tinkoff toot the reins of the peloton but he was caught in the finale as Calmejane tackled the last ascent in the lead, followed by Rolland. The peloton was then 3:30 behind.

In his first year as a professional, Calmejane widened the gap with his former companions in the last ascent and saved enough strength to earn a deserved victory in his first pro season. Behind him, Atapuma sprinted ahead of Ben King to go for second place and become the fourth Vuelta leader in four days with a 29 seconds lead over Valverde and 33 ahead of Chris Froome.

Stage 4 Results
FRA 1 CALMEJANE, Lilian (DIRECT ENERGIE) 4:05:19
COL 2 ATAPUMA HURTADO, Darwin (BMC RACING) + 15
USA 3 KING, Benjamin (CANNONDALE)
KAZ 4 ZEITS, Andrey (ASTANA) + 19
ESP 5 FRAILE MATARRANZ, Omar (DIMENSION DATA) + 23
ITA 6 BATTAGLIN, Enrico (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 24
FRA 7 ROLLAND, Pierre (CANNONDALE) + 33
NED 8 DE KORT, Koen (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 37
ESP 9 MADRAZO RUIZ, Angel (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 40
ITA 10 BENEDETTI, Cesare (BORA-ARGON 18) + 42
SUI 11 WYSS, Marcel (IAM CYCLING)
POR 12 GONÇALVES, José (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 46
RSA 13 JANSE VAN RENSBURG, Jacques (DIMENSION DATA) + 49
USA 14 WARBASSE, Lawrence (IAM CYCLING) + 55
FRA 15 ROSSETTO, Stéphane (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) + 1:04
NED 16 TERPSTRA, Niki (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 1:35
GBR 17 THWAITES, Scott (BORA-ARGON 18) + 1:38
BEL 18 DE GENDT, Thomas (LOTTO SOUDAL)
ETH 19 GRMAY, Tsgabu Gebremaryam (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 1:42
ESP 20 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 2:06
COL 21 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA-BikeExchange)
GBR 22 FROOME, Christopher (SKY)
ESP 23 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF)
COL 24 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR)
ITA 25 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP)
CZE 26 KONIG, Leopold (SKY)
ESP 27 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING)
ESP 28 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO, David (ETIXX – QUICK STEP)
RSA 29 MEINTJES, Louis (LAMPRE – MERIDA)
FRA 30 LATOUR, Pierre-Roger (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
ITA 31 SCARPONI, Michele (ASTANA)
USA 32 TALANSKY, Andrew (CANNONDALE)
FRA 33 DOMONT, Axel (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 2:10
GBR 34 KENNAUGH, Peter (SKY) + 2:12
ESP 35 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (MOVISTAR) + 2:22
BEL 36 DE CLERCQ, Bart (LOTTO SOUDAL)
POR 37 PIMENTA COSTA MENDES, José Joao (BORA-ARGON 18)
ESP 38 PRADES REVERTE, Eduard (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA)
FRA 39 SICARD, Romain (DIRECT ENERGIE) + 2:29
GBR 40 YATES, Simon (ORICA-BikeExchange)

General Classification after Stage 4
COL 1 ATAPUMA HURTADO, Darwin (BMC RACING) 13:23:10
ESP 2 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 29
GBR 3 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 33
COL 4 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA-BikeExchange) + 39
COL 5 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR)
ESP 6 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 1:08
ESP 7 FERNANDEZ, Ruben (MOVISTAR) + 1:11
CZE 8 KONIG, Leopold (SKY) + 1:13
GBR 9 KENNAUGH, Peter (SKY) + 1:15
ITA 10 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 1:23
FRA 11 CALMEJANE, Lilian (DIRECT ENERGIE) + 1:24
ESP 12 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (MOVISTAR) + 1:36
ESP 13 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF) + 1:53
ESP 14 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO, David (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 1:56
GBR 15 YATES, Simon (ORICA-BikeExchange) + 2:08