Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) soloed to victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España after forging clear on the final ascent of the Alto Mirador de Veixia. The Frenchman held off the late pursuit of Darwin Atapuma (BMC), who had the considerable consolation of taking possession of the red jersey of race leader.
The stiff second category climb to the line forced a selection in the main peloton, but failed to separate the principal contenders for final overall victory, as Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange), Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) all finished together, 2:05 down on Calmejane.
Calmejane and Atapuma were part of the 21-man break that formed with a shade over 110 kilometres still to race on the Vuelta’s fourth successive day on the rugged roads of Galicia, and though the Colombian began the stage just 1:35 off the red jersey of Ruben Fernandez, Movistar were content to allow them some leeway ahead of the final climb.
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When the escapees reached the final 30 kilometres with a buffer of five minutes, it was evident that they would decide the stage honours between them, and the first telling attacks began shortly afterwards. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) laid down his marker by stretching the group out on a long false flat, before Alex Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) zipped clear with 20 kilometres remaining.
Domont hit the base of the Mirador de Veixia with a lead of 30 seconds over his erstwhile companions, but he was reeled in after just two kilometres of climbing. Sensing a lull, the 23-year-old Calmejane belied his inexperience to launch an attack of his own and went clear alone with 9 kilometres to go.
The climb’s long straights meant that Calmejane was never out of sight of his pursuers, but he stuck gamely to his task. Pierre Rolland (Cannondale) gave chase alone, but was unable to make any real inroads into his deficit and he was passed by Atapuma, Ben King (Cannondale) and Andrey Zeits (Astana) in the final three kilometres.
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