2023 Vuelta a España Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 of the 2023 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Groves sprints to stage 4 victory, takes green jersey
Kaden Groves sprinted to victory today on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España after a fairly quiet start to the 181km jaunt from Andorra to Costa Daurada. The Australian fastman outkicked Juan Sebastián Molano (UAD) and Edward Theuns (LTK) to take yet another victory for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team - who have stage wins in every grand tour they've participated in since the team's start in 2021.
"It was a really hard day with only DSM and ourselves controlling the day. We had to use two guys to control the breakaway, and that used a lot of energy, but my team was fantastic today, super aggressive and we were always there on time. That paid off with a victory. It was a super tight corner. Marijn van den Berg and my teammate Robbe Ghys ended up going wide and crashing and we had a big gap with Sebastian Molano and myself. Sebastian went from the bottom, with 350m to go. I was patient enough and strong enough to pass him in the last 100m. I was confident because he led from 350m and a finish like that is super tough. I thought he would have to be in a really good day to beat me. I’m very happy. It’s been a good year with a stage win in the Giro and now another one in the Vuelta quite early. Hopefully it’s not the last.
"It’s a really good feeling to wear the green jersey. For sure, we always had a thought about it but the first priority was to win a stage, I even didn’t contest the intermediate sprint to focus everything on the final and I think that helped. Tomorrow, on paper, should be a little bit harder but I’ll try to see how it goes and hopefully we can win again."
Remco Evenepoel (SOQ) continues to lead the overall competition but has not been quiet about voicing his interest in passing along the responsibility to another rider. He stayed out of trouble in the hectic closing kilometres and retained his position on top of the GC standings for yet another day. The Belgian rocket is five seconds ahead of Movistar's Enric Mas and 11 seconds to the good of Lenny Martinez (Groupama FDJ).
"Big roads, not too many corners and then a hectic final - it was a real Vuelta sprint stage," Evenepoel said. "I think with my team we were perfectly positioned, they kept me out of trouble in the last 6-7 kilometres. I thank them for keeping me safe and dropping me in the first 15 positions in the last kilometre, it was just a super job from them."
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