Poels dynamites the Ruta del Sol with a stage win and the lead

the dutch Wouter Poels (Bharein) dynamited this Saturday the 68th edition of the Cycling Tour of Andalusia by winning his fourth and penultimate stage with a time of 3h56:52, with a 167-kilometre route between Cúllar Vega and Baza (Granada), and unseating the Italian from the lead Alessandro Covi (UAE Emirates).

Poels, the new leader with 10 seconds ahead of the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)defender of the title, beat the Kazakh in the sprint Alexei Lutsenko (Astana) in a hectic penultimate day, with continuous movements and attacks since its start in Cúllar Vega, and waiting for the last stage this Sunday in the province of Jaén.

The first brave to unleash hostilities in the platoon were the Danish Mikkel Honoré (Quick-Steep)Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (Ag2R), Rune Herregodsthe first leader of this edition, and Jenno Berckmoes (Sport Vlaanderen)and the Dutch Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarch)although the adventure was short-lived and only lasted a few kilometers with an advantage of just over 30 seconds.

Alessandro Kovi, until now leader and that already showed signs of weakness on Friday having only three teammates in the race, lost contact with the head at the top of El Purche, the first of this stage, when fifteen runners left ahead who revolutionized the race with an attack. In the end, the Italian gave up 7 minutes at the finish line.

Thus, the Colombian Superman López crowned him first in a group that included his Astana teammates Alexey Lutsenko and Harold Tejada, the Italian Damiano Caruso, the Australian Jack Haig, the Basque Mikel Landa or the Dutch Wouter Poels (Bharein).

They completed this head group the Australian Ben O’Connor (Ag2R), the Colombian Iván Ramiro (Movistar), the Andalusians Christian Rodríguez (Total Energies) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos), the Belgian Mauri Vansevenant (Quick Step), the British Adam Yates (BikeExchange) and the Ecuadorians Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural) and Jonathan Narvaéz (Ineos).

The difference with the leading group was 45 seconds and, although there were still 130 kilometers to go until the Baza finish line, all of them got along perfectly and began to open a gap with the peloton, in which UAE Emirates and Bora took the lead without result.

The favorites attack

With 40 kilometers to go, the difference stood at three minutes, with two blocks with control of the escape: the Bharein, with four runners; and Astana, with three; and it was in the absence of 20, with the ascent to the Gorafe pass, where hostilities broke out in the head with attacks by Yates, Caruso and an active Lutsenko.

Precisely, Lutsenko attacked, he was joined by Poels. The breakaway was fruitful and the two riders appeared alone in the streets of Baza, where Wouter Poels won a double prize by winning the stage and leading the Vuelta a Andalucía-Ruta del Sol, with a 10-second advantage over the Colombian Miguel Ángel López and 12 on Cristian Rodríguez from Almería, although there are more cyclists at this time.

The race will conclude this Sunday with the fifth and last stage between Huesa and Chiclana de Seguraall in Jaén territory, with a 147-kilometre route in which cyclists will face five mountain passes in a selective day.

STAGE 4 CLASSIFICATION

1. POELS Wout (Bahrain – Victorious) 3:56:52

2. LUTSENKO Alexey (Astana Qazaqstan Team) 0:00

3. VANSEVENANT Mauri (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) 0:18

4. YACHTS Simon (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) 0:18

5. CARUSO Damiano (Bahrain – Victorious) 0:18

6. RODRIGUEZ Cristian (TotalEnergies) 0:18

7. HAIG Jack (Bahrain – Victorious) 0:18

8. SOSA Ivan Ramiro (Movistar Team) 0:18

9. O’CONNOR Ben (AG2R Citroen Team) 0:18

10. LOPEZ Miguel Angel (Astana Qazaqstan Team) 0:18

GENERAL RANKING

1. POELS Wout (Bahrain – Victorious) 17:06:49

2. LOPEZ Miguel Angel (Astana Qazaqstan Team) 0:10

3. RODRIGUEZ Cristian (TotalEnergies) 0:12

4. HAIG Jack (Bahrain – Victorious) 0:12

5. SOSA Ivan Ramiro (Movistar Team) 0:12

6. RODRIGUEZ Carlos (INEOS Grenadiers) 0:12

7. YACHTS Simon (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) 0:21

8. O’CONNOR Ben (AG2R Citroen Team) 0:21

9. LUTSENKO Alexey (Astana Qazaqstan Team) 0:24

10. VANSEVENANT Mauri (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) 0:27

The peloton in the Vuelta a Andalucía