Pogačar's sensational solo attack squeezes Vuelta rivals dry

Tadej Pogačar won stage four of the Vuelta a España by 2 minutes and 39 seconds after a 50km solo attack.

Pogačar leads the general classification from fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič by 3: 21.

Wednesday's fifth stage is a hilly 173.3km ride from Falset Costa Datura to Terres de l'Ebre in Spain's north east.

Four days is all it took for Tadej Pogačar to end the Vuelta a España as a meaningful contest, the Slovenian great once more riding away from the peloton to win solo and establish a massive lead over the rest of the field.

It has been 32 years since Tony Rominger led a grand tour from start to finish when he won the 1994 Vuelta.

But with yet another thrilling display of daring, Pogačar put himself in pole position to emulate the Swiss rider and become just the ninth man to lead a three-week race from start to finish.

Superlatives have long been superfluous when writing about this Slovenian superstar.

When he hits the front of a race as the road goes into the mountains, the rest of the pack knows that their only chance is to ride their own tempo.

Any attempt to fly too close to this generation's greatest star will surely result in an Icarus tragedy to their hopes of finishing the race.

Pogačar took off with just over 50 kilometres remaining of the 104.8km circuit around Andorra la Vella to claim yet another dominant victory.

Decathlon CMA CGM put the power down on the bottom of the Collada de Beixalis climb, the second mountain of the day, and ripped the peloton to shreds.

Australian Jay Vine led the charge in support for the Slovenian's UAE Emirates XRG team, but with the pace already high, Pogačar simply upped his rate to burst clear.

Decathlon's Austrian leader Felix Gall tried to match Pogačar's pace in the initial throes of his attack.

However, the Austrian, as so many riders have discovered before him, could barely hold the double-world champion's wheel and quickly dropped off before being joined by the rest of the favourites.