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Vuelta a Andalucía. Stage 4. Jakob Fuglsang defends overall lead at Ruta del Sol with thrilling finale in Granada
The penultimate stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía ended as expected with a battle between the best climbers, with Jakob Fuglsang taking a strong second place in the three-man sprint to the line.
Today’s penultimate stage of the 66th edition of the Vuelta a Andalucía took place in Villanueva Mesia and ended in Granada after 125 short but hard kilometers. The race once again favored the climbers in the peloton, with two category three and one category one climb.
From the drop of the flag, the day’s breakaway formed as 18 riders went up the road. Jakob Fuglsang himself and his teammates took as in the previous days, control of the main bunch.
On the last lap around Granada the breakaway had a small gap over the chasing group, with Jakob Fuglsang in. The Danish rider, surrounded by Ion Izagirre, Hugo Houle and Vadim Pronskiy showed a strong performance to bridge across to the front.
As the reduced bunch closed the gap, the favorites attacked and opened up a small gap. Jakob Fuglsang had his teammate Ion Izagirre with him and both pulled hard to bring the jersey home.
In a thrilling finale, Jakob Fuglsang narrowly missed the stage win but was able to hold onto the lead in the overall ranking. Teammate Ion Izagirre fought hard and finished in a strong fifth place, which puts him into fourth in the general classification.
- Well, today we were really close to winning another stage but second is also a strong result. You cannot win every day. Nevertheless, the team worked perfectly together again and showed a great performance. On the final climb Ion and Jakob were at the front of the race and gave their best. Tomorrow’s final stage will be a short time trial, of course we need to be concentrated to bring the jersey safely home. – Giuseppe Martinelli
- It was a good day and at the end, I defended the yellow jersey. But as in the previous days, I want to thank my teammates for all their work. We might not have a complete climber team here, but they guys work so hard and with full passion. Normally the time trial will be something special as it will be my first one of the season. I will give everything I have to bring the yellow jersey home but we will see what happens tomorrow.- Jakob Fuglsang
