In the Vuelta a Burgos stage four, Katusha's Daniel Moreno took a one-second win over a small group of riders, led by Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Pablo Lastras (Movistar). In the hectic final of the 168km stage between Roa de Duero and Romana de Clunia, several small echelons formed, with second-placed Sergio Pardilla (Movistar) the main victim. His loss of over minute dropped him to 15th place overall.
Joaquim Rodriguez still leads the GC, ahead of two Movistar riders: David Lopez and (seven seconds back) and Lastras (eight seconds back). The final victory is still up in the air, with a very hilly final stage on Sunday and a mountaintop finish.
Rodriguez showed true team spirit and defending the leader's jersey was only part of what he looked out for. "I have to thank Joaquim for the big help he gave me in the crucial part of the stage," said Moreno. "Without his help, probably today I couldn´t have won."
On Sunday, there won't be an opportunity for Moreno to try for himself, as the finish atop Lagunas de Neila will decide the overall and Rodriguez will require all the help from his teammates. There are still 11 riders within a minute. "Tomorrow all of us will try to help our leader in order to defend his leadership. If we manage to, this Vuelta a Burgos, for Katusha, will be incredibile."
The impatient Rony Martias (Saur Sojasun), Mikel Bizkarra (Orbea), Antonio Cabello (Andalucia Caja Granada) and Pascual Orengo (Burgos 2016) stormed away after a kilometer and quickly built a comfortable lead.
The order of the first sprint at km 39 was Martias ahead of Bizkarra and Cabello, with the peloton trailing by 6'14. The maximum gap was reached at km 57 with 7'07. At the second sprint Martias was ahead again, this time in front of Orengo and Cabello. At the third sprint (km 85) it was again Martias who prevailed ahead of Orengo and Cabello.
The bunch was still over six and a half minutes in arrears, but consistently ate away on the lead. At km 142, with 26km to go, the break was caught. Several echolons formed ten kilometers later, with Pardilla the main victim.
The final stage on Sunday runs 155km from Areniscas to Lagunas de Neila. Five mountains await the riders. The Alto de Collado (cat 3, km 97), the Colladoi again, this time as a cat 2 (km 117), theAlto de Pasil de Rozavientos (cat 1, km 125), the Collado for the third time (cat 2, km 144) and finall the hors categorie climb to Neila.