Tom Boonen dug deep on the final climb in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana but the Belgian was unable to keep up with the best. It was a frustrating experience for the Belgian who has won in Cordoba twice in the past.

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Pieter Serry earned an 11th place finish in a 164.7km 4th Stage of La Vuelta a España on Tuesday. There was little organization for the sprint as an attack from Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) caused a bit of chaos behind as teams scrambled to chase him down.

The original breakaway was caught on Category 3 Alto de San Jeronimo, and two other riders were caught with about 10km to go in the stage.

John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) won the stage. Vicente Reynes (IAM Cycling) was 2nd, and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) was 3rd.

Rigoberto Uran remains 4th in the GC after the group arrival in Cordoba.

Martin Velits crashed during the stage.

OPQS looks next to another flat stage on Wednesday, and it may be yet another hot day for the peloton. The parcours is 180km in total distance, from Priego de Córdoba to Ronda. There is a Category 3 climb toward the end of the stage.

“I would have loved to win in Cordoba for the third time (Ruta del Sol 2007, Vuelta 2008) so I gave everything in the second climb but the section at 14% was too steep for me and the heat didn’t help a big guy like me," Tom Boonen said.