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Stage 4 — Tuesday, August 29
Andorra la Vella, Andorra to Tarragona
Distance: 184.6km (114.7 miles)
Profile: Medium mountain stage
The 2023 Vuelta a España stage 4 looks likely to end in a bunch sprint, even if the breakaway riders will try to upset that plan. The first half of the stage is gradually downhill and therefore set to have very high speeds; later on there are two category three climbs, namely the Alto de Belltall (km 130.8) and the Coll de Lilla (km. 154).
That leaves 30 mainly downhill kilometers and, depending on how aggressively those climbs have been engaged, ample time for sprinters teams to get organized and hoover up any nearby breakaway moves. The presence of the day’s bonus sprint 20km from the finish may give them even more incentive to reel everything in, as will the fact that this year’s race offers perhaps only five stage win opportunities for the fastmen.
Andorra la Vella has hosted ten stage starts in Vuelta history, while Tarragona has seen 13 finishes. The most recent of these was in 2017 when Matteo Trentin won a big gallop to the line.
Schedule
Start time (13.20 CET, 7.20 a.m. EST, 4.20 a.m. WST), estimated finishing time (17.30 CET, 11.30 a.m. EST, 8.30 a.m. WST)