2024 Vuelta a España Stage 4 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 4 of the 2024 Vuelta a España! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
La Vuelta returns to home soil on the fourth day of action. The race covers 170.4 kilometres and finishes uphill in the remote Extremadura region, which borders on Portugal. The finish climb is the Pico Villuercas, a brutal test of 14.6 kilometres 6.2% with double-digit gradients for several kilometres. Moreover, these steepest sectors are on a narrow corrugated concrete track.
La Vuelta ventured twice into the sweltering Extremadura region in the last four years to try out unprecedented climbs. The Piornal debuted in 2022 (Remco Evenepoel victory) and Pico Villuercas in 2021 (Romain Bardet victory).
The Villuercas returns this year, although only the last 2.4 kilometres are identical to 2021’s finish climb. Back then the riders came from the east; this time, the approach from the north. So the finish is identical, but the climb itself is not.
The riders set off from Plasencia for an intriguing first part of the race. They tackle the Puerto de Cabezabellosa (9.2 kilometres at 5.4%) and Pico de Piornal (13.9 kilometres at 5.6%) within the first 55 kilometres. A long descent then leads onto a prolonged section on the flat.
The route goes uphill again on the Puerto de Miravete. After 8 kilometres of climbing at 4.5%, the riders reach a plateau, and they continue towards the finish climb on an undulating section of 32 kilometres
The Pico Villuercas is a 14.6-kilometre ascent at 6.2%, which serves up double-digit material from kilometre 10 onwards. Moreover, while getting steeper, the road conditions worsen. This part is merely a narrow corrugated concrete track with relentless double-digit gradients and a maximum tilt of 20%. After 2.9 kilometres at 13.4%, the torture lessens until it evens out to 2.1% after the flamme rouge.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint comes with 6, 4 and 2 seconds.
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