Buitrago enjoyes great legs in Valencia, Almeida disappointed, Milan hoped for a stunt from his Swedish teammate

The fourth stage of the Tour of Valencia looked like a chance for the sprinters or the attackers. In the end, however, the stage proved decisive in the GC because Santiago Buitrago won it and claimed the lead from João Almeida. IDLProCycling.com collected some reactions.

Buitrago was the strongest, as demonstrated by the difference with number two, Jonathan Milan, which was six seconds. "It was super demanding," the Lidl-Trek sprinter looked back in conversation with Eurosport. The Italian felt like a yo-yo, so to speak, on the hilly course. "I was dropped three times. However, the team brought me back into the group each time. I was constantly on the limit myself, really the whole time."

Nevertheless, Milan managed to get into the battle for the day's victory, although he secretly hoped for a talented teammate to win. "At the end, I was in a good position. But Jakob (Söderqvist) also had very good legs today, and I left a gap because I thought he could win; I just saw that he was better than me. It was then five hundred meters to the finish."

However, Milan saw a Colombian flash emerging from the corner of his eye. "At that moment, however, I also saw Buitrago. He came from behind with tremendous speed." In the end, Milan and Söderqvist finished second and third. Sunday, Milan gets a chance for revenge. The final stage is flat, so he has little to fear from Buitrago. "I saw a super strong team today, and the focus is now on tomorrow," Milan concludes confidently.

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Buitrago: "I feel really good"

Mission accomplished was the conclusion of stage winner Santiago Buitrago in the flash interview. Like Milan, the Bahrain Victorious star rider spoke of a tough day in the saddle. "We had to suffer a lot. In the final, we were in the front. Pello (Bilbao, ed.) and I moved up to a favorable position from which we could try something," said Buitrago, whose acceleration was downright impressive. It overwhelmingly earned him the stage win and, thus, the lead in the overall ranking. Thanks to his remarkable effort, he didn't need the bonus seconds to get past Almeida, Buitrago.

"We achieved our goal by taking the jersey," Buitrago continued satisfactorily. "I didn't expect to win two stages this week." The tour rider has already emerged excellently from the winter period, something he finds hard to deny. "I feel excellent." Buitrago should not lose the overall victory with another flat stage to go, although the danger lurks in a sprinters' stage. "Tomorrow's stage is tough, a hundred kilometers, so the pace will be very high. They also expect the necessary wind," it sounds cautious. "We will have to be careful, but we have the right team to come out well," Buitrago concludes optimistically.

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Almeida must relinquish lead on penultimate day. 

Almeida disappointed after losing leader's jersey to Buitrago

Almeida started the fourth stage as a leader but had to relinquish the leader's jersey to Buitrago afterward. "It was a bit strange," the UAE Team Emirates leader began his recap. "In the finale, I just wasn't in a good position; the finale was dangerous, and the road surface wasn't great. I just started the last kilometer too far from the back and couldn't close the gap. It wasn't perfect today."

The stage unfolded positively for Almeida for a long time. With a leading group ahead, they didn't have to worry about seconds at the intermediate sprints. So, in the finale, things ended badly for the Portuguese rider. "With this finale, it didn't matter in the end," Almeida concluded disappointedly.

With only a short flat stage to go, Almeida can already look back on his first stage race of the season. "I'm happy with it, though; it was positive all in all. We have one more day to go, but I'm honestly not super happy after today," Almeida concluded in disappointment.

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