Alejandro Valverde, the controversial Spanish national champion, won the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España today, bursting past Nicolas Roche, the Team Sky rider, in the final 500 metres and pipping Peter Sagan to the line.
Sagan, the Slovak riding for Tinkoff-Saxo, was searching for consecutive stage victories following a protracted drought, but Valverde, banned for two years in 2010 for his links to Operación Puerto, the Spanish blood-doping investigation, attacked at an opportune moment on the twisting ramp to the finish at Vejer de la Frontera, following 209 kilometres in 37-degree heat on Spain’s Atlantic coast.
The victory came a full 12 years after 35-year-old Valverde’s first Vuelta stage win.
Roche took fourth, behind Daniel Moreno, the Spaniard riding for Katusha, with Sagan second as he was so often during the Tour de France. Esteban Chaves, the Orica-GreenEdge rider, finished safely in the pack to retain his red leader’s jersey ahead of Tom Dumoulin, the Giant-Alpecin strongman.
Chris Froome, seeking a Tour-Vuelta double accomplished by two riders in history, remains ninth, 40 seconds behind Chaves. Roche has proved Team Sky’s strongest card in this first week, and he lies just 12 seconds off the Colombian. The Irishman, a loyal lieutenant, is no worry for Froome. But the prospect of civil war remains alive within Movistar, where Valverde leads Nairo Quintana, runner-up in the Tour de France and winner of the 2014 Giro d’Italia and the purported team leader, by 11 seconds.
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Under picturesque, azure skies, the stage from Estepona on the Costa del Sol hardly mimicked the calm conditions, as Tejay van Garderen, the luckless BMC Racing leader, came to grief on a roundabout. Van Garderen, who was forced to abandon the Tour in July through illness, rode on seemingly unscathed despite having landed on his left knee.
Still, there was no drama to match the expulsion of Vincenzo Nibali, the 2010 winner, two days ago for taking a faintly ridiculous hitch on the back of his Astana team car.
The race resumes tomorrow with a flat 167.3km stage from Rota to Alcalá de Guadaira that should end in a bunch sprint.