Rivals Roglic and Ayuso entertain, bluff and sprint again in the Tour of Catalonia – Cunning Slovenian scores double win

Primoz Roglic has won the fourth stage of the Tour of Catalonia. In another uphill finish, he once again faced off in a sprint against Juan Ayuso, and while the UAE Team Emirates-XRG Spaniard had taken the win on Wednesday, this time it was Roglic who triumphed. The result means both riders are now tied on time in the overall standings.

After the grueling 220-kilometer stage (with 5,000 meters of climbing!) on Wednesday, many riders either abandoned before or during the fourth stage. Those who remained faced yet another climbing test, from Sant Vicenç de Castellet to Montserrat Millenari—a 188.7-kilometer stage ending with a summit finish. The final climb, 8.8 kilometers at 6.6%, was expected to shake up the general classification.

Before the showdown, an interesting breakaway group formed, featuring big names like Johannes Staune-Mittet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Lennard Kämna (Lidl-Trek), Frank van den Broek (Picnic-PostNL), and Jesús Herrada (Cofidis). With 70 kilometers to go, Staune-Mittet and Steinhauser broke away from the lead group.

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Steinhauser goes solo (Under pressure from INEOS and Quick Step)

Steinhauser grabbed the maximum mountain points on the first categorized climb of the day, the Turó del Puig. But more importantly, he and Staune-Mittet worked well together as they pushed on through the relentless up-and-down terrain. There was no room for hesitation—especially since UAE Team Emirates-XRG was keeping the breakaway within range for leader Ayuso, and INEOS Grenadiers were clearly interested in a hard finale as the race entered the final hour.

At the base of the Montserrat Millenari, Steinhauser and Staune-Mittet had a lead of just over a minute on the peloton and more than 30 seconds on four early attackers who refused to throw in the towel—Frank van den Broek among them. Steinhauser attacked early on the final climb, with no time left to wait. Meanwhile, Soudal-Quick Step was putting in the work in the bunch. Were Egan Bernal (INEOS) and Mikel Landa (Quick Step) plotting something?

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UAE goes all-in for Ayuso—Who can follow?

Ethan Hayter’s hard work for Landa didn’t last long, as UAE took full control heading into the final 5 kilometers of the climb. Steinhauser still had over 30 seconds, but within a kilometer, that had dropped to just 20. Marc Soler buried himself for the team and handed things over to Adam Yates with 3 kilometers to go. Yates pulled hard with Ayuso on his wheel for another kilometer before the Spaniard launched his own attack.

Roglic was momentarily caught out of position and had to close a gap, but he managed it impressively. And just like Wednesday, it was the same two riders battling again on Thursday. Right when it looked like Landa and Enric Mas might catch back on, Roglic launched his move—and this time, Ayuso could follow. They stormed into the final kilometer side by side, knowing Roglic had already collected 3 bonus seconds earlier in the day compared to Ayuso’s one.

The two engaged in a bit of tactical bluffing, while the chasers hovered just behind but never made contact. It came down to a sprint-à-deux, with Ayuso opting for the inside line. Roglic allowed it—but held the better trajectory and sprinted to the win. Both riders are now equal on time in the general classification, but Roglic takes the leader’s jersey thanks to bonus seconds.

Results stage 4 Tour of Catalonia 2025

Read also

Chopping block in Catalonia: Alpecin-Deceuninck sees 4 riders quit, Visma | Lease a Bike loses Lemmen

Course and results Tour of Catalonia 2025 | Ayuso and Roglic set for a rematch on Thursday

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