Primoz Roglic Snags Red Jersey After Mountain Stage Triumph

Primoz Roglic, the three-time champion claimed the red jersey as the race leader after winning the first mountain stage of the Vuelta a España. On Tuesday, Roglic, riding for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, triumphed in the fourth stage, a challenging 14km climb to Pico Villuercas under intense heat. He narrowly beat Lennert van Eetvelt of Lotto Dstny, who had celebrated prematurely, believing he had secured his first Grand Tour stage win.

Before this stage, Roglic trailed general classification leader Wout van Aert by 30 seconds after the opening three stages. However, van Aert finished more than 16 minutes behind on the 170km stage, allowing Roglic to seize the overall lead. Primoz Roglic commented to Eurosport that winning the stage was not his main goal but expressed satisfaction with his performance, especially given the tough conditions.

Portugal’s Joao Almeida from UAE Team Emirates finished third in the stage and now holds second place overall, trailing Roglic by eight seconds. The stage results showed Roglic finishing in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 49 seconds with van Eetvelt matching his time and Almeida following closely. The general classification standings now place Roglic at the top with a cumulative time of 14 hours, 33 minutes and 8 seconds.

Almeida is second, eight seconds behind while Enric Mas of Movistar is third, 32 seconds off the lead. The standings also reflect a competitive field with Antonio Tiberi, Lennert van Eetvelt and Felix Gall rounding out the top five. Roglic’s victory and the shift in the general classification highlight the race’s evolving dynamics and set the stage for future stages.