Primoz Roglic wins to take control at La Vuelta – but team-mate Sam Oomen was not happy about it…

Sam Oomen cut a crestfallen figure after missing out on the red jersey at La Vuelta on Stage 4 – even though team-mate Primoz Roglic ensured Jumbo-Visma’s stranglehold on the race remained intact.

Jumbo have played musical chairs with the leader’s jersey since claiming it on the opening team time trial in the Netherlands, with Robert Gesink, Mike Teunissen and Edoardo Affini having the honour for one stage each.

Given Jumbo’s penchant for sharing, Oomen was tipped to be next on Tuesday’s run from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Laguardia as the race landed in Spain.

“It was a tough one today,” a downcast Oomen said immediately after the stage.

“I don’t know what to say. Pretty strong from Primoz and the whole team I guess.”

It looked like it might be a day for the breakaway until Bora-Hansgrohe upped the pace as their man Sam Bennett went in pursuit of an unlikely three-peat.

That increase in pace not only saw the race come back together, but also sparked interest in the GC battle with two helpings of bonus seconds on the menu.

With Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel (both Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) looking lively, Roglic went on the attack – first hoovering up time on the penultimate climb, then ripping away to victory on the final ramp.

Had the breakaway held on to take the bonus seconds, and the peloton crossed the line together, Oomen could have seized the overall lead by virtue of aggregate placings across the stages. But it was not to be.

When asked if it was the plan for Roglic to take the overall lead on Tuesday, Oomen said: “No, not really to be honest. But Bora had plans to ride for the sprint and then everything came back together.”

“I’m super happy but it’s really just the beginning of La Vuelta,” Roglic said after his latest exploits in Spain.

“As I say, it’s always better to have some seconds ahead than to be behind. It was already a hard pace all day – a super-fast stage. In the final there was an opportunity to fight for the stage win – and I had the legs so I gave it a go.”

Roglic now leads American team-mate Sepp Kuss by 13 seconds in the new-look general classification ahead of a trio of Ineos Grenadiers riders in Ethan Hayter, Pavel Sivakov and Tao Geoghegan Hart – all 26 seconds in arrears.

Asked if Jumbo-Visma plan to keep the sequence going by placing Kuss in red on Wednesday, Roglic answered with a grin: “That was the plan – that we change every time the guy with the red jersey. Today was my lucky day and we see what tomorrow brings.”

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