LAGUARDIA, Spain: Defending champion Primoz Roglic won the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday, the first to take place in Spain after the opening salvos in the Netherlands, to take over the leader’s red jersey.
In an uphill stage finish in Laguardia that suited him to a tee, Jumbo-Visma’s Slovenian saw off Danish rider Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and the Spaniard Enric Mas (Movistar) in the sprint.
Roglic, 32, is the fourth Jumbo-Visma rider to lead the race following Robert Gesink, Mike Teunissen and Edoardo Affini who wore the red jersey after the first three stages on the Dutch team’s home roads.
He is 13 seconds ahead of American teammate Sepp Kuss in the general classification and 26 seconds ahead of the Ineos’ trio Ethan Hayter, Pavel Sivakov and Tao Geoghegan Hart.