Fri 31 Jul 2020
Former Australian champion Alex Edmondson sprinted to ninth place on today’s fourth stage at Vuelta Burgos, despite some disruption with one kilometre to go, after a handful of riders crashed and blocked the road on a tight uphill bend.
Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quickstep) avoided the fall and attacked away to claim a solo stage win on a day that was predicted to be a mass bunch sprint.
The mostly flat stage saw the general classification remain the same, with Colombian climber Esteban Chaves in fourth place at 35seconds ahead of tomorrow’s testing final stage with a summit finish up Lagunas de Neila.
The day’s break
As per previous stages, a breakaway group established themselves at the head of the race within the opening kilometres of the 163kilometre predominately flat stage.
The group of six-riders managed to open up a gap of over four-minutes and remain out-front for most of the stage.
The well-timed catch
The day was hot, and the peloton held a steady rhythm with sprint teams taking control of the steady chase. The lead group began to split-up with riders getting dropped and finally with just 11kilometres remaining the two remaining lead riders were caught, just in time for a sprint finish.
A tight right-turn ahead of the uphill drag to the finish line with one kilometre to go saw a handful of riders crash which caused some chaos within the bunch. Edmondson found his self-caught out slightly and lost momentum but was still able to overcome the pause to sprint into the top ten.
Alex Edmondson – 9th Place
“I was another super-hot day out there. It was pretty chilled all day as the breakaway was always in control, so it was about trying to stay hydrated for the final.
“Chris Juul-Jensen did a huge job keeping Estaban Chaves and myself in good position out of the wind. Unfortunately, I was caught behind the crash with 1km to go and had to go the long way around.
“I was pretty angry, so I just went full gas from there. It’s annoying not to get the result I was hoping for but at least it’s given me a bit of confidence. My forms not too bad after the hectic last couple of months!”
Vuelta Burgos – Stage 4 Results:
1. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 3:51:19
2. Arnaud Demare (Groupama FDJ) +0:04
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) +0:04
4. Alex Edmondson (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +0:04
Vuelta Burgos – General Classification after stage 4:
1.Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 15:26:47
2. George Bennett (Lotto-Jumbo-Visma) +0:18
3. Mikel Landa (Team Bahrain-Merida) +0:32
4. Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +0:35
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
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