THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SIERRA NEVADA, Spain — Spanish cyclist Daniel Moreno won a mountainous fourth stage of the Spanish Vuelta to move 43 seconds behind new overall leader Sylvain Chavanel.
Moreno hung on to the wheel of Saxobank Sunguard cyclist Chris Sorenson as the pair charged toward the close of the 170-kilometre leg, of which the last 24 kilometres were uphill. Moreno swung past his Danish rival before the final bend and pulled away for a three-second victory, crossing the finish line at the 2,112-metre summit of the Sierra Nevada ski resort in four hours, 51 minutes, 53 seconds.
The top two pulled ahead of a breakaway group to duel alone some five kilometres from the finish.
"Moreno was simply stronger than me," Sorenson said. "I tried to go alone with 1.5 kilometres to go but he was with me instantly and maybe he was even cooler than me but I have no regrets and I will try again."
The next 29 riders finished 11 seconds behind Moreno, including defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of Italy who was 12th.
Euskaltel-Euskadi cyclist Igor Anton, expected to be one of the favourites to win the stage, was 1:38 behind in 47th. He is 2:44 behind Chavanel, the QuickStep rider who assumed the red jersey of the overall leader with a time of 13:19:09, with Moreno in second. Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark and French cyclist Maxime Monfort are next, trailing by 49 seconds.
Nibali is next in fifth, 53 seconds behind the French leader.
Sky Team cyclist Bradley Wiggins was 1:31 behind in 21st.
Wednesday’s fifth stage is a straightforward 187-kilometre ride from Sierra Nevada to Valdepenas de Jaen.