Not Jasper Philipsen or Mads Pedersen, but Ben Turner is the winner of the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España 2025. The Brit took the longest end with a long and, above all, strong sprint in Voiron. Philipsen finished second, his lead-out Edward Planckaert third. David Gaudu is meanwhile the new leader in the general classification.
After a start abroad, a rest day usually follows quickly for a transfer — but not in this Vuelta a España. Today, the riders crossed French territory. The fourth stage went from Susa in Italy to Voiron in France, covering a total of 206 kilometers.
The first eighty kilometers of the stage were especially tough. The riders initially raced through the Alps, with climbs over Puerto Exilles (5.8 km at 6.2%), Col de Montgenèvre (9 km at 5.6%), and the Col du Lautaret (9.2 km at 5.2%). However, it was a stage of two faces, as the last 120 kilometers toward the finish were almost flat.
Susa)
Voiron)Two Belgians in the breakaway
The first attack did not wait long, but Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Kelland O’Brien (Jayco AlUla), Jonas Gregaard (Lotto), and Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education–EasyPost) barely got any space from the peloton. Nicolau, however, was not discouraged and soon launched another attack. This time, he managed with four other companions to establish an early breakaway.
The five leaders, with the Alps as a breathtaking backdrop - photo: Cor Vos
The Spaniard was joined by Mario Aparicio (Burgos-Burpellet-BH), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché-Wanty), and Sean Quinn (EF Education–EasyPost). These five attackers had a lead atop Puerto Exilles and managed to deepen the gap with the peloton approaching the Col de Montgenèvre. While Nicolau was first over the top of Puerto Exiles, Vervaeke claimed all the mountain points at Col de Montgenèvre.
Lidl-Trek controls for Pedersen
In the peloton, the dirty work was done — not for the first time in this Vuelta — by the men of Lidl Trek. Mads Pedersen, after his second place in Ceres, was out for sporting revenge, so the American team was keen to reel in the breakaway in time for the (possible) sprint. The maximum gap never exceeded three minutes, although Aparicio could briefly consider himself the virtual leader with this advantage.
However, Aparicio and his companions proved to be a sitting duck. Once over the top of the Col du Lautaret (where Quinn grabbed all five mountain points), the breakaway was caught again. Aparicio resisted a little longer, but with less than ninety kilometers to go, his ride was over. For his teammate Sinuhé Fernández, this was the cue to launch an attack.
Pedersen picks up points at intermediate sprint; Armirail attacks
The 25-year-old Spaniard from Burgos-Burpellet-BH had little room from the sprinters’ teams and seemed to be on an almost impossible mission. After a lonely solo of twenty kilometers, he was caught. Then it was steady racing toward the sprint, with an intermediate sprint in Noyarey first. Pedersen took the best from this, while David Gaudu tried in vain to take over the race lead by scooping bonus seconds.
After this intermediate sprint, calm returned to the peloton, but not for long. Bruno Armirail saw his moment to slip away. The Decathlon AG2R rider got no support, and even for the reigning French champion against the clock, the mission was futile. He was swallowed up again, and then the countdown to the sprint began. In the kilometers before this dash, nervousness visibly increased in the peloton, unfortunately accompanied by crashes.
Chaos heading into the sprint
Around ten kilometers out, multiple riders went down, but the fallen — including the battered George Bennett — were able to continue. Meanwhile, the sprint teams set their trains on track, but no side really gained control. This resulted in a chaotic sprint preparation, but Alpecin-Deceuninck appeared in the last kilometer — at just the right moment.
Philipsen was brought in on a seat to the final few hundred meters and seemed unbeatable after a generous lead-out from Edward Planckaert. The stage winner in Novara simply waited a bit too long to launch his sprint, while Turner came charging with speed. The Brit overtook Philipsen convincingly and recorded his first stage win in a Grand Tour.
photo: Cor Vos
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
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| 1 | 04:50:14 | |
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| 3 | " | |
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| 6 | " | |
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| 10 | " |
