Three-time champion Primoz Roglic claimed victory in the first mountain stage of this year's Vuelta a España, seizing the race leader's red jersey. The Slovenian rider narrowly edged out Lennert van Eetvelt of Lotto Dstny in a dramatic finish on Tuesday's fourth stage, which featured a challenging 14km climb to Pico Villuercas in intense heat. Van Eetvelt, who had raised his arm in celebration prematurely, was overtaken by Roglic just before the line.
Roglic, riding for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, started the day 30 seconds behind the general classification leader Wout van Aert. However, Van Aert struggled on the 170km stage and finished over 16 minutes behind, allowing Roglic to ascend to the overall lead. "Winning the stage wasn’t the main goal for today," Roglic said, "but seeing everyone fighting hard in such heat, I was pleased to finish it off."
Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates finished third on the stage and now holds second place overall, trailing Roglic by eight seconds.
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