Rafal Majka struggled with stomach problems on today’s fourth stage of the Vuelta a España from Escaldes-Engordany to Tarragona, as he finished 3’45” behind the bunch. His GC hopes at this year’s race are all but buried having lost time also on yesterday’s stage.
After yesterday’s first showdown in the mountains, today’s stage was one to favour the sprinters in the peloton. The 198.2 kilometres had only one third category climb and was mainly downhill, leaving Andorra towards the Mediterranean coast. However, the last 10 kilometres were very technical with lots of roundabouts and a slight uphill drag in the last kilometre. With possible splits in this final section, awareness was key today.
Starting the stage with a slight downhill section, the race was very fast from the beginning. It took just a few kilometres before the first break formed and five riders went away from the peloton. While Team Sky was setting a steady pace in the bunch, the breakaway had built an advantage of more than six minutes as they entered the feed zone halfway through the stage.
But when the sprinter teams decided to not let the stage win go away that easy, the gap started to come down gradually. On the top of the only climb of the day, with 66k to go, the distance was already reduced to under 4 minutes. It took another 50 kilometres before all escapees had been reeled back in, but then everything was set for a bunch sprint in Tarragona.
Matteo Trentin (Quick Step Floors) proved fastest in the finish to take the team’s second stage win of the race. The Italian finished ahead of Juan José Lobato (Team LottoNL-Jumbo) and Tom Van Asbroeck (Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team).
For Rafal Majka it was another punishing day in the saddle. Still suffering from stomach problems, the BORA – hansgrohe leader was hardly able to eat during the stage. He kept on fighting like yesterday, but was dropped from the bunch on the last 5k with empty legs.
“Already yesterday I suffered from bad stomach problems,” said Majka. “Today again I couldn’t eat during the stage. I have no energy in my legs and every single kilometre is painful. We hope it will get better soon, but first I have to survive tomorrow, which will be tough. Then we will see how I can recover. The GC is done for me, but the Vuelta is not over yet.”
