On Stage Four, John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) survived the heat and the hills to win a sprint from a reduced bunch, after most of the fast riders in the field had been dropped. Today, Degenkolb survived the heat and the wind to win on a uphill ramp, when many other fast men remained in the leading group; yesterdays victory was mighty fine, but this one was even better. Degenkolb opened his sprint on the ramp to the line, swiftly hit the front and was able to remain there through to the line, and claim his seventh Vuelta a España stage victory. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) tried to pass him on the right, Moreno Hofland (Belkin) on the left, but neither could match the German; Bouhanni ran out of room and Hofland lacked the kick. Degenkolb spoke about his win after the stage:
"The guys worked hard today when it split to bring Warren back up to the front and also Tobias pulled all day then was in the front split to keep us out of the wind until the climb. At the end we made the best out of the situation with just three of us. Warren put us in position but after Koen launched I had to improvise after nearly missing a corner. I lost the wheel and had to close the gap but luckily I was strong enough to still sprint."
BCM Racing Team had led the way under the Flamme Rouge, trying to set up an uphill sprint for Philippe Gilbert, one of the masters of that particular art. By the time the leaders reached the ramp Giant-Shimano had taken over at the front, with Koen de Kort setting the pace then providing a very strong lead out for the sprint. Gilbert was the first to kick for the line, but the ramp wasn't steep enough to give him an advantage over the sprinters; he faded early to finish seventh on the stage. However Degenkolb found the ramp very much to his liking, surging past Gilbert and never looking like being caught.
Koen de Kort's lead out had strung the bunch out on the ramp to the finish, to provide a perfect launching pad for Degenkolb to attack and win the stage. After the stage de Kort spoke about how the day had went: "I had a bit of a funny feeling before the crosswinds that something was going to happen. There was a slight crosswind all day. I wasn't too far up though but saw John ahead and as soon as I could I rode up to him and held him out of the wind. Tobias was still there too and rode strong to make sure we were out of the wind to the climb. Warren missed the split but the other guys worked hard and got him back to the front. Coming into the finish it was Warren, John and I so we had to stay calm with only three of us. Warren put us in position then I waited before going with around 800m to go. I felt real good and looked around at one point and thought I had pulled away but the intention was to help John and it's great for us to get another stage."
Early in the stage Pim Ligthart (Lotto Belisol) and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) had escaped from the peloton. They were never allowed to establish a significant advantage, hovering just two minutes ahead of the peloton. Ligthart outlasted Martin, but his time in front came to an end inside the final 35km, when the crosswinds picked up enough to bring echelons into play. That rising wind prompted Tinkoff-Saxo to raise the pace behind, swiftly closing Ligthart down and splitting the peloton behind.
From that point on it was all about the chase to get back into the leading group. Several leading riders had missed the move, but a concerted effort from Lotto Belisol, Europcar, Cannondale and Garmin-Sharp closed the gap enough to allow several riders to bridge across to the leading group.
Earlier in the stage Chris Froome (Team Sky) had sprung from the peloton to claim second place, and two bonus seconds, at an intermediate sprint point. He had a handy assist from his team mate Christian Knees, and it's possible that those two seconds could matter later in the race; however by the time the race reaches Santiago de Compostela the time gaps should be much greater than that, making this a redundant use of precious energy on such a stiflingly hot day.