MADRID, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe turned the tables on Spain's Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates to win the fourth stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Thursday.
The Slovenian had lost by centimeters to Ayuso on Wednesday as he allowed his rival to overtake on the inside of the final curve, but this time he got into the best position to hold off Ayuso in the final meters at the top of the steep climb up to Montserrat, near Barcelona.
Roglic's win gave him 10 bonus seconds which, coupled with another time bonus he claimed earlier in the stage, takes him into the overall lead on countback, which is based on which of the two riders finished ahead of the other on previous stages.
The stage saw a breakaway open a lead of around three and a half minutes over the main peloton, before the UAE Team Emirates and Movistar teams began to chase seriously, cutting the advantage to a minute by the start of the final steep climb up Montserrat.
Germany's Georg Steinhauser of EF-Pro Cycling was the last survivor from the break, holding a gap of 40 seconds with five kilometers left on the final climb, but with Spain's Marc Soler and British rider Adam Yates doing the work for UAE, Steinhauser's brave ride came to an end with 2.4 kilometers left just as Ayuso attacked with Roglic in close pursuit.
As Ayuso and Roglic played cat-and-mouse in the final kilometer, the chasing group led by Spain's Enrich Mas of Movistar almost caught them before Roglic launched his sprint, finishing just ahead of Ayuso in what is becoming a fascinating head-to-head between the two for the overall title.
Friday's fifth stage is 172 kilometers between Pauls and Amposta, which has a third category climb early in the stage. ■
