Slovenian rider Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) has taken the lead at La Vuelta a Espana after winning stage four on 20 August in a sprint up the final climb to the Pico Villuercas.

Roglič led a small breakaway group up the 14.6-kilometre, 6.2% climb and fended off several last-minute attacks and edge the Belgian Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) and the Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

Roglič said after the race that his team wanted the win even more than he did. "It was not actually the main objective for today but when you see the guys riding hard in this heat, I'm happy to finish it off," he said.

The cyclist added that the team changed the strategy during the race and did not control the peloton on his orders. "Nobody asked me. If they would have asked me I probably wouldn't have said to go so hard or control it for the victory, but I had no option," Roglič said.

Returning to the roads after a back injury at Tour de France, Roglič said today's race was tough. "I definitely felt the back after some hours," he said. "We'll have to see. Hopefully it doesn't get worse but we'll keep the aim to go day by day," Roglič added.

"I always say, you never know when a victory is your last, so I just try to enjoy it," Roglič said.

Roglič now has an eight-second lead on Almeida. Spain's Enric Mas (Movistar), who was fourth today, climbed to third place overall, 32 seconds adrift.

This was the 85th career win for the 34-year-old Slovenian and his 13th stage win at La Vuelta, a race he won in 2019, 2020 and 2021.