Favorites stage 4 Tour of Catalonia 2025 | Ayuso and Roglic can battle it out again

As mentioned, the third stage could easily be pulled from the final week of a super-tough Giro. 218 kilometers and more than 5000 meters of climbing were on the menu for Wednesday. And that will still be a factor on Thursday in the fourth stage of the Tour of Catalonia.

The stage starts in Sant Vincent de Castellet, where, after a few kilometers, we immediately face a 2.6-kilometer climb at 5.1 percent. After a short descent, the road immediately climbs nine kilometers of flat Spanish terrain at 3.0 percent, where the attackers will probably have already taken off or chosen to do so.

The riders will have this Spanish flat terrain for the majority of the day, with the Turo del Puig (5.1 kilometers at 5.4 percent) as a categorized obstacle along the way. From there, the route descends in a slightly rolling line to the day's final climb to Montserrat, where the decision will be made. This 8.8-kilometer climb - of which a profile map is missing - has a gradient of 6.6 percent, making it a gradual climb, so a high pace will be necessary to make a real difference among the best riders.

Climbs
125.0 km: Turo del Puig (5.1 km at 5.4%)
188.5 km: Montserrat (8.8 km at 6.6%)

Times
Start: 06:10 AM EST
Finish: 10:58 AM EST

There is nothing to complain about. It's sunny, with temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius, and there is hardly any wind in Catalonia on Thursday.

On Wednesday, we already saw a preview of what we can expect on Thursday in the queen stage: a duel between the two big favorites of the Tour of Catalonia. Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) pulled away from the competition in the final few hundred meters. Also, they found an arrival towards Montserrat that suited them perfectly.

Ayuso is lucky to have Adam Yates and the on-form Marc Soler as his two men to back him up, whereas Roglic is mainly on his own. Soler was in the breakaway for a long time with Sepp Kuss of Visma | Lease a Bike, who also showed his good legs. The Dutch team also has Wilco Kelderman and Simon Yates.

Other men in the mix were Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto). They can also use their explosiveness in the final kilometer.

Pure climbers such as Enric Mas (Movistar), Laurens De Plus, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) will mainly want to make it a longer endeavor.

Top favorites: Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Outsiders: Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Long shots: Enric Mas (Movistar), Laurens De Plus, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike), Marc Soler, Adam Yates (UAE-Team Emirates) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla)