PREVIEW | Volta a Catalunya 2025 stage 4 - Can Primoz Roglic take revenge on Juan Ayuso at the second summit finish?

From the 24th to the 30th of March the World Tour peloton returns to Spain, more specifically Catalunya, for one of the most exciting and difficult stage-races in the calendar. The Volta a Catalunya is always a massive test for the climbers, but equally other riders will also get their opportunities. We preview stage 4.

Stage 4 is where the race organizers innovated this year, bringing in a day packed with small climbs but all in anticipation to the final one in Montserrat. The typical 'rompe-piernas' kind of day, where the fatigue will build throughout the day. There are 300 meters of climbing on the day, but all eyes will be on the final climb and for good reason.

The ascent is 8.8 kilometers long at 6.6% and it should be ridden at an incredibly high pace. An explosive climbing effort when comparing to the other two mountain stages, it can also potentially favour some riders that would ordinarily not be able to make the difference.

A regular sunny day with no real wind to take note of.

Juan Ayuso - The two men that were expected to fight for victory did, and they have shown they are the strongest in this race. Now, in a longer and more constant effort, we may not see things turn out the same way, but things should be balanced towards Ayuso more. Now the race leader, UAE may race more defensively to focus on him, although I'd argue that Marc Soler and Adam Yates should still be use as early attack cards - because the gap to Roglic is very small and BORA indeed looked quite fragile today. Regardless of an attacked race or a sprint, the Spaniard is as much of a favourite as today.

Primoz Roglic - Roglic is in the same situation, and the tactic has to be the same. Today he was not really put under pressure, but if he manages to avoid such a situation then he can take revenge now on this summit finish - there's no reason to believe he won't be there, and he absolutely showed great form today.

What happens is that this is not a brutal climb, and you can't say the pure climbers will really be able to make good use of it. There is an argument that they can do better, but on a climb like this they can still average around 25Km/h which also means it will be tactical. By all means, Mikel Landa looked very strong in the finale, and the likes of Enric Mas, Lenny Martínez, Egan Bernal and Richard Carapaz will be eager to strike. Lennert van Eetvelt is in the same situation, but his sprint is likely not going to be a huge threat when his rivals are at the level of Roglic and Ayuso.

Within the GC group today we saw the likes of Sepp Kuss, Simon Yates, Laurens De Plus, Ben O'Connor, Matthew Riccitello and Felix Gall who can surely also play a role in the fight for the stage win or at least the first few spots. A lot will depend on how UAE race, if they pace for Ayuso or continue to try and exploit the weak spot in BORA's team (something they may not be able to do later in the race if they lose time with Soler or Yates tomorrow).

*** Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic
** Mikel Landa, Enric Mas, Lenny Martínez, Lennert van Eetvelt
* Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz, Sepp Kuss, Simon Yates, Laurens de Plus, Ben O'Connor, Matthew Riccittello, Felix Gall

Pick: Juan Ayuso

How: Another sprint win, against Roglic.