Tour of Valencia 2020: Pogacar wins Queen Stage to take back race lead

The Queen Stage travels over three intermediate ascents to a killer of a finish climb. Tadej Pogacar strikes early on the steep slopes and solos to victory ahead of Wout Poels and Tao Geoghegan Hart. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 4th stage Tour of Valencia 2020

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Wout Poels (nld) + 0.06
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (gbr) s.t.
4. Dan Martin (irl) s.t.
5. Jack Haig (aus) s.t.
6. Dylan Teuns (bel) + 0.23
7. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 0.32
8. Sander Armée (bel) + 0.42
9. Óscar Rodríguez (spa) + 0.45
10. Ruben Fernandez (spa) + 0.49

GC after stage 4
1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Jack Haig (aus) + 0.06
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (gbr) s.t.
4. Dan Martin (irl) + 0.13
5. Dylan Teuns (bel) + 0.23
6. Wout Poels (nld) + 0.25
7. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 0.32
8. Ruben Fernandez (spa) + 0.49
9. Óscar Rodríguez (spa) + 1.11
10. Alejandro Valverde (spa) + 1.14

Race report
Greg Van Avermaet opts to attack early on. Declercq, Van Hooydonck, Duval, Serrano, Cubero and Carboni join the Olympic Champion, but Cubero and Duval can’t follow the pace. With Pello Bilbao bridging across to the leaders the gap widens to almost 4 minutes.

The lead group tackles the finish climb without Carboni and Serrano. The peloton is half a minute behind.

When the road kicks up in the last 3 kilometres Van Avermaet heads out alone. The peloton gobbles up the other attackers before Pogacar strikes. The Slovenian overhauls Van Avermaet to push on solo.

The shooting from Slovenia wins the race ahead of Wout Poels and Tao Geoghegan Hart. Overnight leader Jack Haig finishes in the same time and drops back to second place overall. Hart now sits in third.

Another interesting read: route 4th stage 2020 Tour of Valencia.