Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) had made it clear that he targeted this long stage to Vejer de la Frontera with a final section suiting him ideally. He delivered perfectly with a blistering finishing to win his ninth Vuelta stage in style ahead of the other two favourites at the start in Estepona, stage 3 winner Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Dani Moreno (Katusha).
Colombia's Esteban Chaves (Orica Greenedge) retained his overall lead.
The start was given at 12:36 to 191 riders. On the gun, six men broke clear and embarked on a long break in the sun ––– Mickael Delage (FDJ), Bert Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Nikolas Maes (Etixx-Quick Step), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) and Markel Irizar (Trek). Their lead quickly rose to reach 13:30 after 29 kilometres. The gap went down a bit as Esteban Chaves's Orica-Greenedge team-mates seized the reins of the bunch. The red jersey's team were promptly joined by Tinkoff-Saxo riders working for arch-favourite Peter Sagan, the winner of stage 3.
Thanks to the joint effort, the lead melted steadily in the heat and was down to 4:00 with 60 km to go. Movistar, determined to help Valverde celebrate his birthday in style, took control in the last 50 kilometers as the wind seemed to offer chances of an echelon. Their move was fatal to the six escapees, whose lead had gone down to one minute, 45 km from the line.
Ten kilometers further down the road, a crash at the back split the peloton and earned the break a reprieve. Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin) and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) were among the riders involved. Helped by Amael Moinard and Jempy Drucker, the American returned within the bunch after a ten kilometres chase.
In the last 20 kilometers, while their former companions called it a day, Spain's Mikel Irizar and France's Jimmy Engoulvent refused to give up, retaining a slim 30 seconds lead before being pulled back in the last 15 kilometers. The stage was set for an exciting finale on the last stretch featuring sections at 9 percent. Attacks took place from the foot of the last ascent. Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Soudal) was the first to tackle the climb and Valverde first hesitated to follow suit before waiting for a better opportunity. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) was next to try his luck. But he was in turn countered by Samuel Sanchez (BMC), quickly joined by Nicolas Roche (Sky). The two seemed to have timed their move to perfection but despite a brave last gasp effort by Roche, could not do anything when the three pre-stage favorites, Valverde, Sagan and Dani Moreno (Katusha) surged to sweep the podium places
