The UCI world ranking's number one paid a tribute to Pablo Lastras after the remembrance offered by his team-mates at the start of stage four in the Vuelta a España in Estepona, one day away from five months after his crash in the Volta a Catalunya. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) was crowned in Vejer de la Frontera, after one of the longest stages in the race (209km), a finale full of short, sharp climbs where the recent Tour de France podium finisher outsprinted the yesterday's winner in Málaga and green jersey in the French stage race, Peter Sagan (TCS), with a signature move in the closing 200 meters.

Even though they hit the front at some points of the stage with Erviti, Sutherland and Ventoso, seconded in the day's teamwork by Amador, Visconti, Rojas and Moreno, who suffered a crash with no consequences in a dangerous urban passage - the Eusebio Unzué-directed squad did not take as much responsibility as they did on previous stages. Tinkoff and Katusha chased down the day's early breakaway and attempts from Bilbao (CJR), Samuel Sánchez (BMC) and Roche (SKY) inside the last 4km.

Valverde dominated the situation with expertise to claim his ninth career stage win in the Vuelta, twelve years after the first one, and took the Movistar account to 30 wins this season. He reached the 5th place in the overall standings, 25 seconds behind Chaves (OGE). In turn, Nairo Quintana finished in 9th spot and remains 8th overall as sprinters take another turn on Wednesday with a relatively easy finish in Alcalá de Guadaíra.

“Despite being a really demanding finish, we hadn't made a recon earlier and only this very morning we checked it on the Internet to get the knowledge we needed about the slopes. I had to rest a bit after the Tour; if I should have stayed on 'racing mode', checking the route, I would have burned myself out, and with technology around nowadays, you can check every detail and get more or less the same results,” Alejandro Valverde told.

"Seeing that it really was demanding, we knew it would suit me well, and with those really hard, final 400m, I kept my mind cold, because Alberto Losada was keeping a tremendous pace at the front. Sometimes, we're the ones doing the biggest efforts in search for the stage win, as it happened Sunday towards Caminito del Rey, which we couldn't crown. Today, even though we always stayed in front and it was a hard stage from the team, I can't thank them enough for what they did. We saved as much energy as possible while others brought the breakaways back one by one. The headwinds were strong all day and the heat, though not really intense, the Garmin was saying 30, 32 degress, had an impact on the result.

"I was seeing that neither Bilbao nor Samuel Sánchez and Roche were opening a serious gap, and I kept Sagan under control. As the shadow on the ground showed him on my wheel, I didn't have to look back. I knew he was strong, but in such a finish, with 200m to go, when Majka jumped away and closed the gap... you can suffer some sort of misfortune, but it was clear to me that this victory was mine, or at least I had a really strong chance. More than the bonus seconds I took, I'm happy because of this win, which makes my team-mates so confident about our chances.

"It's a stage with a finish that suited me very well. What's more, the whole team managed to keep cool because this Vuelta is still very long and we don't want to waste any unnecessary time. We need to keep some freshness for the weeks to come.

"We knew that Peter Sagan was one of our most dangerous rivals for today's stage. As you could see, he made his team work hard with the victory in mind. In the last 200 metres, I saw that he was there, I saw his hair flying behind me, and I saw that he was strong but I knew I was going to win.

"Those [stages 2 and 4] were two very different stages. On Sunday, Nairo was in the front and I was controlling at the back. In this stage we worked and we did not win. Today we didn't work and we won. 

It's a lot of joy. It will also help me keep relaxed for the rest of the Vuelta. Every victory is important but the ones earned in the Vuelta are even more so. We're all extremely happy.

"I think Froome sticks to his plan. If he came to the Vuelta, it was not to ride poorly. If he came here, it's because he thinks he has a chance and I'm convinced he will be a contender.

"Yes, I spent energy But I'm not the only one. It's very hot, not in terms of degrees but it's very humid. And the speed and the climbs and the heat make it complicated for everyone.

"Stage 6 a stage that looks a lot like this one but I think the one that suits me even more and will be important for the GC is the one Alto de la Apujarra. I know every inch of it until the last little village named Capileira.

"Leading the team alone? Not at all - nothing changes with this. Nairo and I remain equal in terms of leadership. It's just that this finish was good for me, but Nairo is doing well, as you can see in the peloton every day. Caminito del Rey was the first serious day of racing after four or five weeks when our legs almost did nothing like a real effort, and that made the stage really strange. It was very different today. We're happy with this victory and look forward to keeping this line.

“It was a very good finish for me. But it’s also true that I don’t feel that bad. If I go on feeling this way, I will be fighting for the overall win in the Vuelta.”