Nairo Quintana has been the leader of the general classification of the Vuelta a Catalunya 2022, after stage 4, which was set as the queen day with up to three mountain passes. There, with a route of 166 km between La Seu d'Urgell and Boí Taüll, everything was planned for the climbers to give the show from start to finish together with their teams.
The main favorites were Almeida, who won today with a reduced sprint against Arkea Samsic's Nairo Quintana and fellow Colombian Sergio Higuita del Bora, second and third respectively in the stage standings.
Richard Carapaz, in addition to other riders, tried to leave earlier than expected, but were returned to the lot on account of the rest of the rivals who wanted to control the race in order to be able to attack in a harder and more suitable area for them.
The Quintana team was quite united and doing a great job to protect and then launch the Colombian to complete the goal of the day, which was to win or keep the leader's shirt.
Meanwhile, Sergio Higuita was also very active attacking and looking for the sensations to be able to face his main rivals, including Nairo who did not let him go at times knowing the strengths of the 24-year-old Antioquia.
Only Almeida, Higuita and Quintana could excel in the face of the tough climb to Boí Taüll, which was top notch and was difficult for most of the squad.
However, we can highlight the great work done by the gregarius of Nairo, Miguel Flórez and Winner Anacona. In addition, among the most outstanding Colombians are Esteban Chaves of EF Education EasyPost and Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain Victorious who came in 18th and 19th places at 1 minute 32 seconds and 1 minute 37 seconds respectively.
Colombian cycling continues to leave its flag high in the most prestigious competitions in Europe, not only with stage victories, but also with victories in general standings, as Nairo did this season in the Tour de la Provence, the Tour of the Alpes-Maritimes and the 5th place he did in the last Paris Nice where he faced the Slovenian Primoz Roglic of Jumbo Visma.
All this seems to be a good sign of the conditions with which Quintana would arrive for the Tour de France, which has already been confirmed, his team will attend, as well as the Vuelta España, two races in which the boyacense has made history for a decade, even being the second coffee grower to achieve the general in the Iberian round after Lucho Herrera in '87.
Now the challenge for the two Colombians Nairo and Higuita will be to maintain their positions for the remainder of the race until Sunday when they finish in Barcelona. Although Higuita could try to snatch the top spot yet, as he is now 3rd overall, 6 seconds behind his compatriot and has the same time as Almeida from UAE Team Emirates who is second in the standings.
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