Stage 4 of La Vuelta Femenina was, on paper, the easiest so far, with most of the climbing placed far from the finish. Two riders went clear after 20 km: Nijssen and Allione, later joined by Hanson and Jaskulska. The quartet built a solid advantage, with Allione taking both QOMs of the day and drawing level with Squiban, who had picked up 2 points behind the leading duo on the first climb. Entering the final 40 km, Team SD Worx took control of the peloton, gradually reducing the gap to the breakaway.
With 14 km to go, Jaskulska attacked at the front and only Hanson managed to follow. Entering the last 10km, they still held an advantage of over one minute. However, once the sprinters’ trains began to form, the gap quickly came down and the duo was eventually caught with 2.5 km to go.
The stage then came down to the expected bunch sprint. Liane Lippert launched her effort far out, at 400m to go, with van der Breggen and Kopecky on her wheel. Entering the final straight, Kopecky relaunched the sprint and powered to a clear victory, with van der Breggen even able to closing behind her teammate, securing a SD Worx 1-2. Third place went to Paternoster ahead of Bossuyt and Koch. Thanks to the bonus seconds gained at the finish, Lotte Kopecky now also leads the GC by 6" over Koch and 12" over Kerbaol. Tomorrow marks the final “easy” stage before the monstrous final weekend.