Tadej Pogacar He’s back on the road. After a day of “rest” on Friday in the third period of Tour of Andalusia-Ruta del Solwhich his UAE Emirates teammate Tim Wellens took advantage of to take the win, the Slovenian did his thing again in day four of the Andalusian round to claim his third partial victory and further strengthen his overall lead.
they are four wins accumulated this season, all of them this week where it was released in competition. After winning the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior held on Monday, Pogacar leads a Vuelta a Andalucía with an iron fist where he will face the final stage this Sunday with 1:14 difference to Mikel Landa, 1:19 to Santiago Buitrago, 1:35 to Carlos Rodríguez and 1:54 to Enric Mas. Thus, he will be the great favorite to determine the general classification and take the fifth victory.
I expect a fourth stage with steep terrain, with constant ups and downs in the latter part of the day between the 164.8 kilometers that separate Olvera and Iznájar. A terrain, a priori, favorable for a race leader to keep his distance and control his pursuers. However, that reading is incorrect a Pogacar that tried to attack in the last kilometers and responded to Mas’s attempt. Landa joined them in the final stretch, but his move was also answered by a Pogacar who measured the forces to take the victory in the last few meters which also hurtled upwards.
They expect a port of third at the beginning and another third, a second and another third at the end, although there is a steep terrain with continuous ascent. The last meters presented a hard ramp that helped solve the stage. This is what happened. He Emirates He was in complete control of the escape during the day while waiting for his leader’s moment of inspiration. He came to finish the work of his teammates and extend his team’s dominance, which was taken all stages disputed so far in the race.
Several attacks followed each other in the peloton in the first kilometers, where some dangerous men in the general tried to move. Therefore, the peloton rejected the escape, experiencing a new attempt less than 115 kilometers away with a large group of eighteen cyclists in which, among others, Ruben Guerreiro and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar); Tim Wellens (UAE), Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious), Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel) or Igor Arrieta and Héctor Carretero (Kern Pharma).
Once again, the peloton halted the march until the final breakaway junction of the day with 80 kilometers to go. is in it Ruben Guerreiro and Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar), Edoardo Zambbarini (Bahrain-Victorious), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-AlUla), Lionel Taminiaux (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Dion Smith (Intermarché), Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural), Pascal Eenkhorn (Lotto Dstny) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies).
The peloton stabilizes the differences between two and three minutes in the absence of the last ascent of Jaramillo and Fuentes de Cesna. On the first ramps of that initial harbor they tried to pick off the pursuers Enric Mas and Mikel Landa, although they could not solarize Pogacar who knows how to manage the forces to reach his wheel. At the front, the attacks followed each other and left Shivakov as the leader of the race while his fellow breakaways were gradually swallowed up by the peloton.
Despite their attempts, the Spanish did not strike a Pogacar taking its first big step about twelve kilometers from the end. more He responded to leave with him, but an acceleration behind Mohoric allowed the other favorites to join a leading group. In falling to a Carlos Rodríguez who stayed on the hook, Landa, Mas, Pogacar, Lorenzo Rota (Interarché) and Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) was called to play the victory on the hard final ramps of the stage.
i’m trying a brave Mas with a final attack, but Pogacar’s response was impeccable. The Slovenian accelerated the Movistar chase and let go of the final ramps to raise his arms again at the finish line. But, showing good legs in the Andalusian round, he was left again with honey on his lips and second position against eleventh show of strength by the double Tour championwhich at the age of 24 has reached fifty victories as a professional.
Fifty one will try to tie him this Sunday, day of the final stage between Otura and Alhaurín de la Torre, with 184 kilometers and another difficult mountainous day with three thirds and the ascent in the middle of the first stage of Puerto del Sol, with more than seventeen kilometers of ascent. The last part of the stage is, however, without big climbs, so it will be necessary to see if Pogacar limits himself in defending his total of 1:11 or if, on the contrary, he will continue to keep his ambition intact.
classifications
4th stage, Olvera-Iznájar, 164.8 km
1. Tadej Pogacar (ESL/UAE Emirates) 4:01:11
2. Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar) at 3″
3. Lorenzo Rota (Ita/Interarché-Circus-Wanty) at 9″
4. Mikel Landa (ESP/Bahrain-Victorious) at 12″
5. Santiago Buitrago (Col/Bahrain-Victorious) at 21″
General
1. Tadej Pogacar (ESL/UAE Emirates) 16:36:58
2. Mikel Landa (ESP/Bahrain-Victorious) in 1:14
3. Santiago Buitrago (Col/Bahrain-Victorious) in 1:19
4. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP/INEOS Grenadiers) at 1:35
5. Enric Mas (ESP/Movistar) in 1:54
6. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Gbr/INEOS Grenadiers) in 2:43
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
