Ben Turner surprises by winning stage 4 of La Vuelta 2025

Final stage of the particular Grande Partenza that La Vuelta has disputed in this 2025 edition with a route that crossed the Alps to finish in the French city of Voiron. Another day with little impact on the general classification despite the change at the top of the standings with David Gaudu taking over the leader's red jersey.

David Gaudu takes the lead of La Vuelta from Jonas Vingegaard

Who would have thought that a stage through the Alps would be completely inconsequential, but in the design of La Vuelta 2025, anything is possible. Today, the road left Italian lands to head towards France with a route of over 200 kilometers that connected Susa and Voiron with the ascent starting from the small port of Exiles followed by Montgenevre, a classic pass between Italy and France, to reach the beautiful city of Briançon and from there, all the way up to Col du Lautaret, as continuing to Galibier did not seem like an option even though the Tour de France included a similar route in its 4th stage last year.

From Lautaret, nothing, 130 kilometers all downhill, absolute boredom, until reaching the finish line in Voiron in another uneventful sprint finish, concluding this start of La Vuelta in Italian and French lands, not abroad, as they still have the Andorran stage to be held the day after tomorrow.

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In this scenario, just like these days, an early breakaway formed, this time composed of Louis Vervaeke, Joel Nicolau, Mario Aparicio, Sean Quinn, Kamiel Bonneu. The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider managed to lead the first climb and finish second in the next two, allowing Joel Nicolau to take the mountain leader's jersey.

After the mountain pass, the peloton, led by a Lidl-Trek team eager for victory, caught them 89 km from the finish line, but another Burgos-Burpellet-BH cyclist took over at the front: Sinuhé Fernández, to continue justifying and showcasing the colors of the Burgos team. His little adventure lasted until 47 km to go. After this, a brief attempt by Bruno Armirail, but also without causing any concern to the work of Lidl-Trek.

However, things did not go as planned for the American team, who in the tricky final stretch, in the streets of Voiron, lost their block and therefore the positioning of their fast man, Mads Pedersen. Jasper Philipsen managed to find his way well, launched by a teammate, seemed to have his second victory in this Vuelta within reach, but he did not expect the road to incline enough to prevent him from unleashing his full speed, a circumstance that the INEOS Grenadiers cyclist, Ben Turner, took advantage of to unexpectedly overtake him while still in the slipstream of his lead-out man and achieve a surprising victory.

The surprises of this stage finale did not end there, as although they crossed the finish line with the same time, David Gaudu finished several places ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, who preferred to avoid any trouble, meaning the red jersey passed into the hands of the French cyclist whose team will have the honor of starting last in the team time trial to be held tomorrow in Spanish territory.

Stage 4 Classification

1. Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers) 4h50'14''
2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +00''
3. Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +00''
4. Ethan Vernon (Israel-PremierTech) +00''
5. Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +00''
6. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +00''
7. Fabio Christen (Q36.5) +00''
8. Orluis Aular (Movistar) +00''
9. Guillermo Thomas Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +00''
10. Nicolò Buratti (Bahrain-Victorious) +00''

General Classification

1. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) 10h55'36''
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +00''
3. Julio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +08''
4. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +14''
5. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5) +16''
6. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +16''
7. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +16''
8. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +16''
9. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) +16''
10. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +16''