Two riders come together on the line and Italian adjudged to be at fault
Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) won the fourth stage of the 2013 Vuelta a Burgos, between Doña Santos and Santo Doningo de Silos, in a tight and controversial sprint against race leader Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr). Both riders moved towards one another a little, and Ratto leaned over towards Roux as they hit the line, almost crashing onto the Frenchman and having to pull his left foot out of his pedal.
Both riders managed to stay upright, and the Italian’s wheel hit the line fractionally in front. the result was reversed, however, as Ratto’s sprint was adjudged to have been dangerous and he was relegated to the back of the group. Simone Ponzi (Astana) crossed the line in third place, and was elevated to second, while Francesco Lasca (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was elevated to third.
Having taken his first stage victory of the race, Roux’s hold on the purple jersey was secure for another day.
“There was wind all day but my teammates were perfect,” said Roux afterwards. “I asked Arnaud Courteille to stay near me to put me in the final which was quite tortuous but Jussi Veikkanen and Cédric Pineau were really sure. They have the fatigue of the Tour of Poland in their legs, it was a bit of hard for me to make contributions but they didn’t mind and work really well.
“In the end, there was a hill with a descent leading to the finish. Arnaud, Benoît Vaugrenard and Laurent Pichon were there. I was positioned really well by Arnaud great just before the last corner but it was still 600 meters to the line, and I was still a bit away from the Italian Ratto, in seventh or eighth.
“I launched the sprint, it was false flat and a proper climb in the last 100 meters. I came up to Ratto but he squeezed me into the barriers. It is he who has crossed the line first but I figured it would be downgraded and he was. I am very happy to have won and it gives me a great morale before the last stage even if it’s hard. At the finish, it will be a col to climb twice, the last time for the finish itself. It’s hard but I have a jersey and I’ll defend it to the last!”
The 162km stage saw a breakaway from Efren Carazo (Burgos BH-Castilla y León), Ricardo García (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Aritz Bagües (Euskadi) and Romain Hardy (Cofidis), who escaped in the early kilometres and managed to build a lead of almost four minutes. Steadily the group was pulled back by the peloton, however, and – despite a few attempted counterattacks, the race was all together with 18km to go.
Astana, then Team Sky, and then Orica-GreenEdge took control of the bunch as it headed into the finish, with only Luis Guillermo Mas (Burgos BH-Castilla y León) able to attempt an escape. The Spanish rider was never allowed to get far, and the peloton arrived at the finish en masse, where Roux was the first to hit the twisting, cobbled finishing straight.
Ratto managed to pull alongside the Frenchman, but was adjudged to have sprinted dangerously as he almost crashed on the line.
Result stage 4
1. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr
2. Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana
3. Francesco Lasca (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
4. Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling
5. Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
6. Daniele Colli (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
7. Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
8. Edwin Ávila (Col) Colombia
9. Carlos Barbero (Spa) Euskadi
10. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
Standings after stage 4
1. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr
2. Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team @ 2s
3. Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Katusha Team
4. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr @ 7s
5. Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ 10s
6. Mauro Finetto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
7. Rinaldo Nocentini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale @ 11s
8. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling
9. Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
10. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team @ 13s