The Russian rider was the only survivor of a breakaway group of almost 40 riders, who began the uphill
climb to the Asturian peak with a lead of just over two minutes and held on to cross the finish line with a 1.06 minute advantage
over a chasing group with Carlos Sastre (CSC), Stijn Devolder (Discovery Channel) and Dennis Menchov (Rabobank).
This stage, the first opportunity for the climbers to show their skills, was marked by that 40-man breakaway
which included major riders like Belgian Stijn Devolder. His presence forced Caisse d’Epargne to come from behind in
a chase that was taken over by CSC in the final kilometres. The teammates of Carlos Sastre were obviously preparing the race
so that the Ávila-born rider could finish off the performance. His attack caught such riders as Gómez Marchante (Saunier
Duval) and later Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) short. Only Menchov and, to a lesser extent, Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto)
were able to follow Sastre, not to mention Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) who had his sights set on winning the stage.
Nevertheless, Efimkin never flagged and took both the victory and the gold jersey. Piepoli was second and
Devolder, who was caught in the last few metres, finished third in a stage which allowed us to see the first notable differences
in elapsed times: Evans is fine, but some 20 seconds back and Pereiro and Marchante both gave up almost a full minute. Sastre
and Menchov, not to mention Efimkin, look the strongest.
Efimkin gave a rather curious press conference since he began to speak even before the first question was
asked: "Before anything else, I want to say this victory is not only my victory, but also of my team and my family. I wouldn’t
be here without them. In addition, I want to say I would like it very much if my team would sign my brother Alexander because
he’s very talented. He's better than I am and is going to have more success in the future than I will myself." After
that opening declaration of principles, the Russian rider was confident about his chances: "Win the Vuelta? I’m not
ruling anything out. In the 2005 Tour of Portugal, it looked like I wasn’t going to win and I pulled it off. I have
that experience under my belt and the best thing is to take it one day at a time. I’m not going to worry about anything
more than to seeing how I feel each day and trying to give everything I have to hold on to the gold jersey, but yes, I would
say right now that I’m not ruling it out." In regard to his performance so far in 2007, Efimkin says: "I fractured my
collarbone in the Tirreno-Adriático and had to have two operations. I couldn’t come back until the Euskal Bizikleta,
but I won a stage there and was the leader in Switzerland. Did I lose it ? Yes, but now I’m much better prepared
and more confident of my chances than I was at the Tour of Switzerland."
Caisse d'Epargne is leading the team classification and has a tactical advantage with Pereiro and Karpets
in close distance to raceleader and teammate Efimkin: "The stage came out very well for us. We have Efimkin as the leader
and then Karpets and myself in good position. The team responded well and I expect we’ll make a good showing in the
Zaragoza time trail and the two Pyrenees stages," Oscar Pereiro explained.
Rabobank's sports director Erik Breukink wanted to put the impact of Efimkins victory into perspective. "Nothing
has been decided yet; the differences were small. But, it is a good sign that Denis was one of the better riders today. Whether
it is negative that Efimkin won a minute? He is a good cyclist, but he is not one of the favorites. It should not be a problem,
although some riders might spring a surprise on you. He is not a good time trial rider though." Breukink was content with
the fact that Stijn Devolder was captured during the final phase of the stage. "There were some strong riders in the lead
group. You know that many of them will be hunted down in the end, but still."
Breukink also recapitulated on the start of the race. "It was a very odd series of events of course with
that lead group of more than thirty men, but fortunately more teams encountered the same problems: being represented, but
having no candidate for the victory. It was not very worrisome, because the favorites were all positioned close to each other.
Nevertheless, we did have to pull out some stops in order to minimize the lead on the foot of the climb." On the team: "Everyone
performed reasonably well. We did some lead work and Denis was kept out of the wind. I am more than satisfied about the first
four days."
Results
Stage 4
1 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne
4.39.56 (39.67 km/h)
2 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir
1.06
3 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
5 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto
1.28
8 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.33
9
Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia
1.36
10 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas
1.49
11 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
1.50
12 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
1.54
13 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Liquigas
1.57
14 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
15 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
2.18
16 José Ángel Gómez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.23
17
Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
2.29
18 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
2.30
19 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic
2.32
20 Josep Jufré (Spa) Predictor - Lotto
2.49
21 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne
2.57
22 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre - Fondital
3.02
23 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
3.05
24 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3.09
25 Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
3.11
26 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
3.33
27 David López (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
28 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.51
29 Oliver Zaugg
(Swi) Gerolsteiner
4.10
30 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto
31 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas
4.15
32 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
4.47
33 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner
4.58
34 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
5.01
35 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
5.03
36 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax - Gam
5.06
37 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile Team
5.10
38 Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Col) Rabobank
5.11
39 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC
5.14
40 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax - Gam
5.16
41 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia
5.29
42 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic
43 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux
5.46
44 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
6.02
45 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
6.08
46 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole
6.21
47 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
48 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank
49 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole
50 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
51 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
52 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Relax - Gam
6.24
53 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
6.54
54 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
6.56
55 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
7.01
56 Iker Camaño (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
7.12
57 René Mandri (Est) AG2r Prévoyance
7.21
58 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax - Gam
7.46
59 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance
7.48
60 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
61 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
62 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC
7.52
63 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team CSC
64 Adam Hansen (Aus) T-Mobile Team
8.11
65 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
8.13
66 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance
9.03
67 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic
9.07
68 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
9.16
69 Manuel Vazquez Huesco (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
9.18
70 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic
9.20
71 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
72 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
9.22
73 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team
9.23
74 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
75 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC
76 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner
77 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux
78 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
79 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom
80 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Karpin Galicia
81 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
82 Santiago Perez (Spa) Relax - Gam
83 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
9.28
84 Nacor Burgos Rojo (Spa) Relax - Gam
9.52
85 Raúl García De Mateos (Spa) Relax - Gam
86 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux
10.22
87 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
11.18
88 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Relax - Gam
12.38
89 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team
13.34
90 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux
91 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Team
92 Tim Klinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner
93 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic
94 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Karpin Galicia
95 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 13.37
96
Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
97 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre - Fondital
13.42
98 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
13.50
99 Jason McCartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
100 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram
15.08
101 José Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
15.17
102 Juan Olmo Menacho (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
15.23
103 Manuel Ortega Ocana (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
15.53
104 Santos González (Spa) Karpin Galicia
17.19
105 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
17.45
106 Francisco Jose Martinez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
17.50
107 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 17.59
108 Kevin
Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic
18.03
109 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic
110 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
111 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Predictor - Lotto
112 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
113 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
114 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC
115 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
116 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic
117 Gustavo Domínguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia
118 Serafín Martínez Acevedo (Spa) Karpin Galicia
119 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC
120 Renaud Dion (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance
121 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française des Jeux
122 Gustavo César (Spa) Karpin Galicia
123 Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram
124 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas
125 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole
126 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
127 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank
128 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française des Jeux
129 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
130 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
131 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank
132 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
133 Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
134 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française des Jeux
135 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
136 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas
137 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
138 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
139 Arkaitz Durán (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
140 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Crédit Agricole
141 Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
142 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Gerolsteiner
143 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
144 Matej Jurco (Svk) Team Milram
145 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
146 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur
147 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
148 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
149 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram
150 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank
151 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram
152 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas
153 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Crédit Agricole
154 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram
155 Jorge Garcia Marin (Spa) Relax - Gam
156 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team
157 Philip Deignan (Irl) AG2r Prévoyance
158 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
159 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
160 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Team Milram
161 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
162 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
163 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
164 Bart Dockx (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
165 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
166 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team
167 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas
168 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team
169 Bert Roesems (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
170 Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Crédit Agricole
171 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas
172 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
173 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram
174 David García (Spa) Karpin Galicia
175 Addy Engels (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic
176 Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
177 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
21.35
178 Erki Pütsep (Est) Bouygues Telecom
22.00
179 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française des Jeux
23.34
180 Alberto Fernandez De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 24.56
181 Sergio Paulinho (Por)
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25.55
182 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucia -
Cayasur 26.44
183
Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
28.04
184 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Bouygues Telecom
29.45
185 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2r Prévoyance
34.13
186 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
36.24
DNS Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile Team
