La Vuelta 2023 - Kaden Groves triumphs on stage 4

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Today’s stage led from Andorra la Vella back to the coast, to Tarragona over a mildly hilly course of 185 kilometres. It was a day for the sprinters as the race was downhill all the way to the Mediterranean with some climbs thrown in towards the end.

There were only two category 3 climbs to be mastered today; the first after 130 kilometres, the Alto de Belltall (798m, 9,3 km climb at 3,7%) and 24 kilometres later, the Coll de Lilla (580m, 5,2 kilometres climb at 4,9%). After that came the intermediate sprint at 163 kilometres before today’s finish.

ICONSPORT 1133439156 scaled — Stays in the red jersey: Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step

La Vuelta 2023: Groves wins the sprint ahead of Molano

The action was the same as the previous day: a breakaway group formed from the start. The difference to yesterday, it worked right from the beginning. Eduardo Sepulveda, Ander Okamika and David Gonzalez attacked and immediately opened a gap of 25 seconds after two kilometres of proper riding. How good they worked together became apparent five kilometres later, when the gap stood at 2 minutes. It stabilised around 2:15 for large parts of the race. In the first hour of racing, they covered an unbelievable 47,8 kilometres! The gap gradually shrunk and by the time there were only 100 kilometres left to race, the gap was down to 1:17.

In the peloton meanwhile, Alpecin-Deceuninck made the pace in order to secure a sprinting finale for their fast man Kaden Groven who was beaten by Andreas Kron in Barcelona on stage 2.

King of the Mountain and Sprint Points

Those three riders went over the climbs with Sepulveda taking three points on both occasions, thus collecting six points in total. This was a historical moment as he became the first Argentinian to wear a specific jersey at any of the three grand tours. He stepped in the footsteps of trailblazers like Bruno Sivilotti who won a stage at La Vuelta in 1966 and Maximiliano Richeze who won two stages at the 2007 Giro d’Italia.

In the sprint, it was his fellow escapee Ander Okamika who collected 20 points and a 6-second time bonus. By that time Sepulveda had already been caught by the peloton. Shortly after, the adventure of the breakaway was finished as the peloton swallowed them up to set up their sprint finish.

With 10 kilometres to go, Ineos-Grenadiers took charge of proceedings and were supported by Alpecin-Deceuninck. Within the final five kilometres, a crash occurred but did not disturb the sprinter trains from speeding up. Today it was Groves who was the strongest. He came from second place to beat Molano in the final 50 metres.

Top Ten of Stage 4

1. K. Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 04h 05′ 41″
2. J. S. Molano (UAE Team Emirates) +00′ 00″
3. E. Theuns (Lidl-Trek) +00′ 00″
4. M. Menten (Lotto-DSTNY) +00′ 00″
5. D. van Gestel (Total Energies) +00′ 00″
6. O. A. A. Sanabria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +00′ 00″
7. H. Page (Intermarché – Circus – Wanty) +00′ 00″
8. L. Askey (Groupama – FDJ) +00′ 00″
9. S. Flynn (Team DSM-Firmenich) +00′ 00″
10. A. Vendrame (AG2R Citroen Team) +00′ 06″

The Top Ten of La Vuelta after Stage 4

1. R. Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) 12h 48′ 58″
2. E. Mas (Movistar) + 00′ 05″
3. L. Martinez (Groupama – FDJ) +00′ 15″
4. J. Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +00′ 31″
5. A. Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00′ 33″
6. C. Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00′ 37″
7. R. Bardet (Team DSM-Firmenich) +00′ 39″
8. P. Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) +00′ 41″
9. J. Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +00′ 42″
10. M. Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +00′ 46″

The Green Jersey after Stage 4

1. K. Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 75 PTS
2. A. Vendrame (AG2R Citroen Team) 62 PTS
3. A. Kron (Lotto-DSTNY) 30 PTS
4. J. S. Molano (UAE Team Emirates) 30 PTS
5. R. Evenpoel (Soudal Quick-Step) 25 PTS
6. M. v.d. Berg (EF Education First – Easypost) 24 PTS
7. M. Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 21 PTS
8. A. Piccolo (EF Education First – Easypost) 20 PTS
9. A. Okamika (Burgos-BH) 20 PTS
10. E. Theuns (Lidl-Trek) 20 PTS

King of the Mountains

This is a huge moment for Argentinian cycling as Eduardo Sepulveda becomes the first Argentinian to wear a specific jersey at a major cycling event.

🇦🇷 @EduSepulvedaARG hace historia al convertirse en el primer argentino en vestir el maillot distintivo de líder de una clasificación de una GV.
🤩 Eduardo Sepúlveda – @lotto_dstny is making history as the first Argentinian to lead standings in a Grand Tour.#LaVuelta23 |… pic.twitter.com/bFADpvosdK
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 29, 2023