Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale) soled to victory on stage 4 of La Vuelta Femenina ten seconds ahead Georgia Baker (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), who took second and third.
Faulkner launched her attack after six kilometers before the short climb. “I wanted to do a last-minute attack, I knew that climb was going to be a place where a lot of teams would try to attack. I actually decided counter instead of attacking myself because I knew that some team would try to go at that point. SD Worx tried a few attacks, I just hopped on wheels. Then Demi [Vollering] and Elisa Longo Borghini tried one, and I was right on their wheels. I looked back, we had a small gap, and I was like, ‘this is the counter that I have to go on’. It was right before the climb, it was a great moment, so it was a bit of luck and planning.”
SD Worx-Protime lit up the stage by forcing the pace in crosswinds that hit the peloton after only 20km of racing, and within minutes, six riders from SD Worx-Protime had formed the nucleus of an elite group of 19 riders that would ride together all the way to the finish.
A chasing group of 40 riders attempted to close the gap to the 19 leaders throughout the race, getting as close as 30 seconds, but ultimately, the gap grew to two minutes by the time they reached the finish line.
Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) now holds the red leader’s jersey, five seconds ahead of Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and nine seconds ahead of Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale).
Results
La Vuelta Femenina, Stage 4
1. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Cannondale, in 3:02:37
2. Georgia Baker (Aus) Liv AlUla Jayco, +10s
3. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
4. Blanka Vas (Hun) SD Worx-Protime
5. Sheyla Gutiérrez (Esp) Movistar
6. Maike van der Duin (Ned) Canyon-SRAM
7. Alison Jackson (Can) EF Education-Cannondale
8. Silke Smulders (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco
9. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL
10. Marlen Reusser (Sui) SD Worx-Protime, all at same time
General Classification
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 9:59:42
2. Blanka Vas (Hun) SD Worx-Protime, +5s
3. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Cannondale, +9s
4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +18s
5. Alison Jackson (Can) EF Education-Cannondale, +19s
6. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +20s
7. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +21s
8. Marlen Reusser (Sui) SD Worx-Protime
9. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) SD Worx-Protime, both at same time
10. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-Sram, +28s
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ceratzit-challenge-by-la-vuelta/2024/stage-4
