Ben King rides breakaway to victory in Vuelta a Espana fourth stage

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Benjamin King wins stage 4 Vuelta a Espana 2018

Benjamin King (Dimension Data) dominated the final climb to win the fourth stage of the Vuelta, with overall leader Michael Kwiatkowski keeping the red jersey despite losing time.

King was in control through the final meters of the 161.4-kilometer stage, comfortably securing the victory and becoming the first American to win a Vuelta stage since Chris Horner in 2013.

”I didn’t start believing until the last kilometer,” King said. ”I’m still in shock. I set winning a Grand Tour stage as a goal for myself. I’ve worked so hard for this.”

Nikita Stalnov (Astana) crossed the line two seconds behind King, and Pierre Rolland (EF Education First-Drapac) was third, 13 seconds behind the winner.

Kwiatkowski had his 14-second lead cut in half, with Emanuel Buchmann moving to second place after a ninth-place finish on Tuesday.

Simon Yates jumped to third overall, 10 seconds off the lead, while Alejandro Valverde dropped from second to fourth, 12 seconds off the pace.

Wednesday’s fifth stage will take riders back to the coast through a mountainous route of nearly 190 kilometers from Granada to the municipality of Roquetas de Mar.

Vuelta a Espana 2018 – stage 4 results (Vélez-Málaga – Alfacar. Sierra de la Alfaguara):

1Benjamin King (Dimension Data)

4:33:12

2Nikita Stalnov (Astana)

+02”

3Pierre Rolland (EF Education First-Drapac)

+13”

4Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis)

+01’08”

5Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale)

+01’39”

6Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal)

+01’57”

7Oscar Cabedo (Burgos BH)

+02’24”

8Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

+02’48”

9Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe)

+02’50”

10Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)

+03’07”

11Aritz Bagues (Euskadi-Murias)

,,

12Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

+03’13”

13Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)

+03’15”

14Nairo Quintana (Movistar)

,,

15Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors)

,,

16Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)

,,

17Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)

,,

18Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida)

,,

19Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale)

,,

20Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb)

,,

 

General classification after stage 4:

1Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)

13:47:19

2Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe)

+07”

3Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

+10”

4Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

+12”

5Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb)

+25”

6Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida)

+30”

7Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale)

+33”

8Nairo Quintana (Movistar)

,,

9Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+37”

10Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors)

+42”

11Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe)

,,

12Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)

+43”

13George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+45”

14Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)

+46”

15Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates)

+47”

16Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac)

+48”

17David De La Cruz (Team Sky)

+53”

18Benjamin King (Dimension Data)

+01’05”

19Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors)

,,

20Jesus Herrada (Cofidis)

+02’00”

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