Vuelta a Espana - the most important facts in brief
- Stage 4, Tuesday, 20 August
- Plasencia - Pico Villuercas, 170.4 kilometres, mountain stage, 3250 vertical metres
- Official start: 13:27
- Estimated arrival time: ~ 17:19 - 17:42
- TV broadcast: 14:30 - 18:00 Eurosport 1
- Live stream: Discovery Plus (subject to a charge)
- All stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 at a glance
Vuelta 2024: Stage 4 - route, elevation profile and map
The Vuelta a Espana 2024 leaves Portugal after three opening stages and crosses over to Spain. There are around 150 kilometres between the finish of stage 3, Castello Branco, and Plasencia, the start of the fourth stage. Plasencia has around 40,000 inhabitants and is located in the province of Caceres, in the autonomous region of Extremadura. A total of four mountain classifications have to be conquered on the fourth day. The first climb to the Puerto de Cabezabellosa (2nd category) begins after around 15 kilometres. The road climbs over 9.2 kilometres with an average gradient of 5.4 per cent. After the descent from Cabazellosa, the next mountain awaits: the Alto de Piornal (1st category) - 13.9 kilometres with an average gradient of 5.6 per cent.
The route of stage 4 takes the riders further south and, after the descent from Piornal, there is a flat section of around 30 kilometres to the Puerto de Miravete (3rd category) - 8 kilometres with an average gradient of 4.5 per cent. After crossing the summit, there are just over 30 slightly undulating kilometres before the final climb begins - and it's a real tough one.
The climb is 14.6 kilometres with an average gradient of 6.2 per cent. At three to five per cent, the first nine kilometres are something for the big chainring, but then it gets really steep. Between kilometres ten and 13, the gradient is consistently in double figures in terms of percentage. And the road also gets worse: after the village of Navezuelas, the riders leave the wider CC-97 and turn left onto a concrete track that leads to the finish on Pico Viluercas. The steepest ramp awaits around two kilometres before the finish at 20 per cent. After that, there are single-digit gradients before another 15 per cent on the last kilometre.
Sporting assessment of the 4th stage
Similar to the Giro d'Italia 2024 on the 2nd stage to Santuario di Oropa and the Tour de France on the 4th stage over the Col du Galibier, the Vuelta a Espana also has a mountain stage very early on in the tour. In 2021, there was already an arrival of the Tour of Spain on the Pico Villuercas on stage 14. Back then, Romain Bardet won from a breakaway group. There were only small gaps between the favourites for the classification around the eventual Tour of Spain winner Primoz Roglic. It could be similar in 2024. With so many mountains still to come in this Vuelta, hardly any team will be throwing everything onto the road on the first difficult stage. We are therefore likely to see more of a feeling-out process than an open exchange of blows.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of stage 4 of the Vuelta a Espana 2024
The neutral start will take place at 13:05. The sharp start is scheduled for 13:27. The finish is expected at 17:19 with an average speed of 44 km/h, 17:30 at 42 km/h and 17:42 at 40 km/h.
Eurosport will broadcast all stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2024. Stage 4 will be shown free-to-air on Eurosport 1 from 14:30.* Including post-event coverage, the broadcast will run until 18:00. A live stream on the internet is also available from the paid provider Discovery Plus.
* Transmission times are subject to change.
