Stage 4

The road

At the start

The knockout stage in Andorra

Yesterday's hailstorm on the Mont-Louis wiped stage 3 from the record, so nothing has moved: Pogačar in red, Van Aert at nine seconds, Brennan at ten, Alex Kirsch the second man gone. Today is the first high mountain day — a hundred kilometres in Andorra and three thousand metres of climbing, over the Port d'Envalira from the gun, then Beixalis, the Coll d'Ordino and La Comella. Nowhere to hide.

How it was won

1. 181 km to go

   Sixteen clear over the Envalira

   UAE lead out of neutral and straight onto the Port d'Envalira, where sixteen riders get a minute — Van Aert, Brennan, Fisher-Black, Fortunato, Dunbar and Lutsenko among them. Fortunato tops it first for the mountain points, and before the summit Decathlon come over the top of UAE and begin to ride in earnest.

2. 252 km to go

   Mühlberger blows the group apart

   The break is caught on the descent and now Gregor Mühlberger takes the Collada de Beixalis to pieces for Felix Gall. Fewer than fifteen riders are still at the front with barely fifty kilometres left to ride.

3. 350 km to go

   Pogačar goes with 50km left

   Poked once too often, Pogačar slips off Jay Vine's wheel and attacks the eight-and-a-half percent of the Beixalis with 50.3km still to ride — an absurd distance, on the steepest road of the day, in a race he already leads. Gall tries to hold him and is gone inside a minute. Two kilometres later the gap is 48 seconds, at the summit it is a minute and a half, and the 2026 Vuelta has effectively been settled halfway through its fourth stage.

4. 428 km to go

   Roglič scorches across on Ordino

   Pogačar is two minutes out of sight at the foot of the Coll d'Ordino and the chase behind stops cooperating. Gall attacks and only Onley can follow, until Roglič, with five kilometres of the climb still to come, burns across the gap looking like the Roglič of old, Mas and Kuss riding over on his wheel.

5. 56 km to go

   Bonus seconds on La Comella

   Nine of them reach the last climb together and Decathlon go to the front once more, Mühlberger leading Gall up it until Skjelmose cracks. Gall attacks and nothing happens; Roglič counters and drops Carapaz; Onley sprints past for the four bonus seconds at the top with Gall taking the two behind him, and the deficit stops falling at 2:43.

6. 6At the line

   Alone into Andorra la Vella

   Pogačar arrives on his own where he first announced himself in 2019, the longest solo win of his Grand Tour career behind him. Widar takes the sprint for second at 2:39 ahead of Gall, and the man in red rides away with 3:31 in hand and the mountains jersey as well.

The result