Stage 4 of La Vuelta a España delivered the first General Classification test, with Matthew Ricitello and George Bennett passing with flying colors to climb to sixth and ninth place respectively on the steep slopes of Pico Villuercas.
Having crossed the border from Portugal to Spain, the GC was set for a shake up with three climbs prior to the category one summit finish, which featured ramps of up to 20%.
Whilst Mike Woods was ruled out for contesting the final climb with an untimely mechanical and bike change at the foot of the climb, Riccitello and Bennett stayed with the select group of favorites as the gradients began to rise. After another selection was made in the final kilometers, where both riders lost contact, Riccitello was not only able to claw his way back to the front but attacked inside the final kilometer.
Although his move was neutralized, the young American held on to finish in the sixth place while Bennett followed closely behind in ninth place, while the stage winner and race lead went to Primoz Roglic.
“I think everyone suffered today,” explained Riccitello. “I don’t think I’ve ever done a race or training ride in temperatures that hot. I think it was a good day. I didn’t really expect too much on the first mountain day because everyone is really fresh and I didn’t really know where I would stack up against the others. So I’m pretty happy with how it went today.
“I attacked there in the last kilometer. It didn’t really do much, I didn’t really have the legs anyway, but I figured I would try and hopefully they would look at each other and let me ride off but that didn’t happen. But, there are 17 more stages to try something. Not so long ago I was sitting in Tucson watching these guys race the Tour de France so to be up there racing with these guys is really cool.”
The impressive rides today by Riccitello and Bennett see the IPT duo move up to 12th and 16th on GC respectively after the first day in the mountains.
“It’s been a really nice start for us,” added Bennett. “Corbin has shown he is one of the fastest in the race and it’s also exciting to see me and Matthew up there at the front. I’m hurting for Mike who had a mechanical as he was really up for today but there are plenty of opportunities for all of us going forward. The young boys are also doing a super job at putting us in the right place so hopefully we can do something special in the weeks ahead.”
Stage 5 presents another fast and flat opportunity for the sprinters with Strong looking to build on his third and sixth places on stage two and three.
