Vuelta a Espana 2026 Classifications Update Stage 4 - Tadej Pogacar blows race apart with 3:21 GC lead as red, green and polka dots all belong to Slovenian
CyclingTuesday, 25 August 2026 at 17:53
The first red jersey of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana will be decided immediately in Monaco, where a 9.4-kilometre individual time trial opens a race featuring more than 58,000 metres of climbing, repeated summit finishes and a second race against the clock later in the final week.
This live classifications hub will be updated after every stage with the latest General Classification, Points Classification, Mountains Classification and Best Young Rider standings, tracking the fight for the red, green, polka-dot and white jerseys from Stage 1 on August 22 through to the final stage in Granada on September 13.
The overall battle will be shaped by repeated opportunities for the climbers, from the early Pyrenean and Andorran tests to Calar Alto, Sierra de la Pandera, Penas Blancas and the decisive Collado del Alguacil. The two individual time trials and bonus seconds provide further chances for the gaps between the main contenders to change.
Sprint finishes and intermediate sprints will drive the points competition, breakaways can quickly transform the mountains standings and the white jersey will develop alongside many of the same stages that decide the general classification. Each update will show the latest standings after the day's racing and highlight the important changes across all four competitions.
Read also
General Classification Standings after Stage 4
Stage 4 blew the Vuelta's general classification wide apart. Tadej Pogacar now leads Primoz Roglic by 3:21, with Enric Mas at 3:32, Sepp Kuss at 3:44 and Oscar Onley at 3:45.
Richard Carapaz and Felix Gall also remain inside four minutes, but the scale of Pogacar's advantage after only four stages is already enormous. Mattias Skjelmose and Jarno Widar sit at 4:06, while Jay Vine rounds out the top 10 at 4:11.
Barring something exceptional, the battle for red already looks emphatically settled; the more realistic GC fight is now for the podium places behind Pogacar.
| Rnk | ▼▲ | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | - | Pogačar Tadej | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 7:38:59 |
| 2 | ▲7 | Roglič Primož | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 3:21 |
| 3 | ▲21 | Mas Enric | Movistar Team | 3:32 |
| 4 | ▲34 | Kuss Sepp | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 3:44 |
| 5 | ▲38 | Onley Oscar | Netcompany INEOS | 3:45 |
| 6 | ▲19 | Carapaz Richard | EF Education - EasyPost | 3:50 |
| 7 | ▲56 | Gall Felix | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 3:57 |
| 8 | ▲13 | Skjelmose Mattias | Lidl - Trek | 4:06 |
| 9 | ▲68 | Widar Jarno | Lotto Intermarché | ,, |
| 10 | ▼3 | Vine Jay | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 4:11 |
| 11 | ▲41 | Mühlberger Gregor | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 4:34 |
| 12 | ▲3 | Debruyne Ramses | Alpecin - Premier Tech | 4:44 |
| 13 | ▲3 | Torres Pablo | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 5:27 |
| 14 | ▲13 | Tejada Harold | XDS Astana Team | 5:30 |
| 15 | ▲4 | Brenner Marco | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 6:02 |
| 16 | ▲19 | Berthet Clément | Groupama - FDJ United | 7:32 |
| 17 | ▲62 | Ruiz Ibon | Equipo Kern Pharma | 8:37 |
| 18 | ▼14 | Bisiaux Léo | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 8:44 |
| 19 | ▲10 | Tulett Ben | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ,, |
| 20 | ▲33 | Omrzel Jakob | Bahrain - Victorious | 9:17 |
| 21 | ▲24 | Martin Guillaume | Groupama - FDJ United | 9:25 |
| 22 | ▲24 | Nordhagen Jørgen | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 9:26 |
| 23 | ▲106 | Hirt Jan | NSN Cycling Team | 9:47 |
| 24 | ▲56 | Rodríguez Cristián | XDS Astana Team | 9:51 |
| 25 | ▲57 | Pickering Finlay | Team Jayco AlUla | 9:54 |
Points Classification Standings after Stage 4
Pogacar has also taken an early stranglehold on the points classification after Stage 4. The Slovenian now leads with 82 points, more than double Ethan Hayter’s 37, while Matthew Brennan sits third on 30.
Behind them, Leo Bisiaux, Wout van Aert, Pau Miquel and Josh Tarling are all clustered on 25 points, but Pogacar’s combination of stage wins, high placings and intermediate points has already created a huge cushion.
| Rnk | Rider | Team | Pnt |
| 1 | Pogačar Tadej | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 82 |
| 2 | Hayter Ethan | Soudal Quick-Step | 37 |
| 3 | Brennan Matthew | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 30 |
| 4 | Bisiaux Léo | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 25 |
| 5 | van Aert Wout | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 25 |
| 6 | Miquel Pau | Netcompany INEOS | 25 |
| 7 | Tarling Joshua | Bahrain - Victorious | 25 |
| 8 | Laporte Christophe | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 24 |
| 9 | Onley Oscar | Netcompany INEOS | 22 |
| 10 | Mühlberger Gregor | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 21 |
King of the Mountains Classification Standings after Stage 4
Pogacar also took control of the mountains classification after his dominant Stage 4 ride. The Slovenian now leads with 23 points, more than double Lorenzo Fortunato’s 10.
Koen Bouwman and Sepp Kuss are tied on 6 points, with Pogacar's haul coming after taking maximum points on both Beixalis and Ordino during his long-range attack.
| Rnk | ▼▲ | Rider | Team | Pnt |
| 1 | Pogačar Tadej | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 23 | |
| 2 | Fortunato Lorenzo | XDS Astana Team | 10 | |
| 3 | ▼2 | Bouwman Koen | Team Jayco AlUla | 6 |
| 4 | Kuss Sepp | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 6 |
Youth Classification Standings after Stage 4
Oscar Onley took control of the youth classification after the first mountain test, moving up 15 places to lead Jarno Widar by 21 seconds.
Ramses Debruyne sits third at 59 seconds, with Pablo Torres at 1:42 and Marco Brenner at 2:17. Leo Bisiaux dropped from second to sixth after losing almost five minutes to Onley, while Ben Tulett, Jakob Omrzel, Jorgen Nordhagen and Finlay Pickering complete the top 10.
| Rnk | ▼▲ | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | ▲15 | Onley Oscar | Netcompany INEOS | 7:42:44 |
| 2 | ▲26 | Widar Jarno | Lotto Intermarché | 0:21 |
| 3 | ▲3 | Debruyne Ramses | Alpecin - Premier Tech | 0:59 |
| 4 | ▲3 | Torres Pablo | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 1:42 |
| 5 | ▲4 | Brenner Marco | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 2:17 |
| 6 | ▼4 | Bisiaux Léo | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 4:59 |
| 7 | ▲5 | Tulett Ben | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ,, |
| 8 | ▲11 | Omrzel Jakob | Bahrain - Victorious | 5:32 |
| 9 | ▲8 | Nordhagen Jørgen | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 5:41 |
| 10 | ▲20 | Pickering Finlay | Team Jayco AlUla | 6:09 |
Teams Classification Standings after Stage 4
UAE Team Emirates – XRG strengthened their grip on the teams classification after Stage 4, remaining top on a combined time of 23:06:42.
Decathlon CMA CGM Team moved up two places into second but already sit 6:20 behind, while Team Visma | Lease a Bike dropped to third at 10:26.
| Rnk | ▼▲ | Team | Class | Time |
| 1 | - | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | WT | 23:06:42 |
| 2 | ▲2 | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | WT | 6:20 |
| 3 | ▼1 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | WT | 10:26 |
You can check the full standings of each of the classifications at the 2026 Vuelta a Espana.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 8visitors 4
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- When you win by cheating, that is not considered a legitimate win, and therefore counts for nothing. It is not an honorable achievement by any standard.. you can erase LA's name from the record books and nobody will care. Except perhaps to a few people who value cheating as a human virtue to be emulated.FredMan25-08-2026
- tell me how sprinters help vingegaard. Their irrelevant in that picture. Yes sprinters can win races and Visma is honsetly a better sprinter team now these days than they have climbers their roster there is incredible incredible weak and declining. Lets hope they can save this sinking ship and ppl leaving Visma and get some money i hope for thatmiguel25-08-2026
- Yawn - wake us up when it’s overCrashjames25-08-2026
- I am watching the Vuelta, but expect to be much more entertained by the rest of the podium fight and the other jerseys than by Pogi's procession. I enjoy watching Pogi much more on stages where he doesn't just solo forever. The way he responded to Wout in stage 2, for example, was great. He just loves to race, and it's fun to watch. That said, a 50 km TT is I am sure fun for Slovenian Pogi fanbois such as yourself, but it seems to blind you to how others might get a little bored watching that same story over and over again. It doesn't really bother me too much, I am happy to focus on the less predictable storylines in the race, and enjoy those Pogi moments where he animates stages that are a bit more like classics parcours.DAS25-08-2026
- I assumed that even before the start of the Vuelta.MajorPayne25-08-2026
- I can't believe someone made me like Mou's post! You are truly special!MajorPayne25-08-2026
- What's boring is people complaining.Hills3325-08-2026
- Don't watch cycling... watch bowling, curling, dart throwing or chess...PogiSloFans25-08-2026
- Personally? We're over seeing this guy at the top EVERY freaking time {Lance Armstrong double?}. BORING!! PLEASE 🙏, give us some NEW hopefuls to get behind!!!f9ers5525-08-2026
- Pretty amazing since the race was in Monaco.zaz25-08-2026
Loading
1 Comments