Returning to the area that saw him conquer his first Grand Tour stage, in La Vuelta 19, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) showed how much he has grown since, achieving his most dominant solo ride ever in a three-week event. Stage 4 of the 2026 edition, on Tuesday, was held entirely in Andorra, with a 104.8-km loop around Andorra la Vella featuring four ascents. Pogacar attacked on the second climb, Collada de Beixalis, and distanced all his rivals with 50 kilometres to go. The 5-time winner of the Tour de France thus surpassed his 43-km benchmark set last month en route to Gavarnie-Gèdre (stage 6), as well as his 39-km solo ride to Plataforma de Gredos in La Vuelta 19 (stage 20). A few days after his opening success in the Principality of Monaco, he took his fifth La Vuelta stage win, his first wearing La Roja, with a gap of 2’39’’ over his first chasers. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is now second in the overall standings (+3’21’’).
Onto the Andorran rollercoaster! After stage 3 had to be cancelled due to extreme weather, the race resumes with a mountain stage entirely held in the Principality: a 104.8 km loop around Andorra la Vella packing 3,000 metres of elevation with relentless ups and downs over the Port d’Envalira, Collada de Beixalis, Coll d’Ordino and Alto de La Comella.
First assaults up Envalira
Early in the stage, the peloton pass by Encamp, a few kilometres below Els Cortals d’Encamp, where Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) took his first Grand Tour stage win in La Vuelta 19. By that point, the road rises towards the highest summit of La Vuelta 26: Port d’Envalira, at 2,409 metres of altitude.
Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Emirates XRG rapidly show their ambition to control the stage. Early attackers try to flip the script, with Visma-Lease a Bike particularly intent on making a strong breakaway. Sepp Kuss makes his move alongside Wout van Aert, Matthew Brennan, Ben Tulett and Bruno Armirail.
Behind them, Decathlon CMA CGM set a strong pace. Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) goes first at the summit (cat. 1, km 25.1) and the attackers are caught early on the downhill.
Pogacar flies away with 50 km to go
Onto the second ascent of the day, the steeper climb to Collada de Beixalis (6.5km at 8.5%), UAE Emirates XRG and Decathlon CMA CGM up the ante. The bunch explodes and Tadej Pogacar accelerates. Felix Gall tries to follow him for a handful of kilometres but Decathlon CMA CGM’s Austrian climber has to let the Slovenian superstar go with 50 kilometres to go.
Behind him, 15 riders catch Gall. A dozen more return on the downhill, while Pogacar rides away, with a gap of 1’40’’ at the bottom of the climb to Coll d’Ordino (cat. 1, summit at km 78.7).
Gall attacks on the climb with Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos) on his wheel. They are joined by Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and then Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Enric Mas (Movistar). At the summit, Pogacar is more than 2 minutes away.
Massive gaps
The sole leader keeps pushing his advantage, up to a maximum of 3’05’’, while a handful of climbers get back to the first chase group: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Jarno Widar (Lotto Intermarché) and Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM). The former sets the pace for another attack by Gall on the final climb of the day, Alto de la Comella (cat. 3, km 99.4). But only Carapaz and Skjelmose are distanced.
At the line, Pogacar completes a 50-km solo ride and takes the victory 2’39’’ ahead of Jarno Widar. In the overall standings, he is now 3’21’’ ahead of Primoz Roglic. The gaps behind are minimal as Enric Mas trails by 3’32’’, Sepp Kuss by 3’44’’, Oscar Onley by 3’45’’, Richard Carapaz by 3’50’’, Felix Gall by 3’57’’…
