Pogacar's 50-km solo raid delivers Vuelta stage four win in Andorra

Aug 25 - Tadej Pogacar arrived in red, lit the fuse on the climbs and turned stage four of La Vuelta into a private exhibition on Tuesday, powering away with almost 50 kilometres remaining to win alone in Andorra la Vella.

The Slovenian, bidding to complete his Grand Tour collection by claiming the Vuelta for the first time, attacked on the road to the second climb and quickly reduced a high-altitude battle into a one-man procession.

He began the final ascent with a lead of 3 minutes and 12 seconds and cruised over the last mountain pass before finishing in 2:40:35. Jarno Widar won the sprint for second, 2:39 off the pace, with Felix Gall third.

Seven years after his only previous appearance in the Spanish race, Pogacar underlined why he started as the overwhelming favourite following a summer in which he claimed a fifth Tour de France title.

The UAE Team Emirates rider now leads the general classification by 3:21 over compatriot Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, with Spain's Enric Mas of Movistar a further 11 seconds back.

Pogacar began patiently, sitting in the third peloton for much of the opening climb, around 32 seconds behind the group setting the pace.

The early attackers were reeled back in on the descent from the first mountain pass, where Lorenzo Fortunato of Astana crossed the summit of the Port d'Envalira first to collect mountain points.

Then came the coup de grace.

With 50km to race, Pogacar surged clear uphill in familiar style. By the time he crossed the summit of the Collada de Beixalis, he had a lead of 1:30 over a chasing group including Mas, Roglic, Gall, Richard Carapaz, Oscar Onley.

It was shaping up as Pogacar's longest solo victory in a Grand Tour. He had already produced long-range masterpieces this year at the Tour de France, where he attacked on the Col du Tourmalet and rode the final 43km alone, and in previous Grand Tours including the 2019 Vuelta and the 2024 Giro d'Italia.

On Tuesday, his pace was brutal and every climb saw the gap grow.

With Embret Svestad-Bardseng pulling the chasing group, Pogacar stretched his advantage to nearly three minutes on the road to the later climbs. REUTERS