Rain, cold, wind, narrow road, dirt and mud alla round. It sounds like a cobbled classic, instead this was the main the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia-Ruta del Sol, where – in spite of the name – a pale sun only showed up after the finish of the harsh 200 km effort from Maracena to Alto de las Allanadas. It was one of those days when resiliency is a key attitude, and Colombia-Coldeportes’ Rodolfo Torres, 15th to the line that celebrated Team Sky Chris Froome’s double – stage and lead -, certainly had to bite the bullet today.

“I suffer a lot when it is so cold," the 27-year-old from Busbanzà said. "And in today’s stage I struggled for long. At the beginning of the final climb I barely had sensibility to my feet and hands, so I made my best to help Edward Diaz and Carlos Julian Quintero to take a good position in the top group and then lost some terrain. As the climb went on though, I started feeling better, legs were spinning well and I quickly recovered a number of positions. I am not satisfied with the result, because I know that my condition is better than that, but I will build on those final kilometres, where I showed to myself that I can compete against the strongest men on the World stage.”

Compared to Friday’s finish, Alto de las Allandas climb was much shorter, but extremely steep – with gradients up to 21% – and it proved fatal for Mirko Selvaggi (Wanty), the last survivor of the 9-man action started 50 km into the race, after the strong pace set by overnight leader Alberto Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo had denied any earlier attempt. Selvaggi had started the final ascent with 2 minutes over the bunch, having dropped fellow escapee Simon Gethske (Giant-Shimano), but the dreadful slopes of the decisive climb made it possible for the strong men’s group, led by Sky, to bridge back on him, with Diaz and Quintero showing in the top positions.

Twenty-year-old Diaz himself gave a notable show of courage, trying to accelerate in the hardest section of the climb. A sign of growing maturity and confidence for the Colombian prospect, who said afterward:

“The day was really hard, with rain, cold and so much mud adding over to a nervous route and to the frantic pace, particularly in the first hour. The attack was probably a little daring, but I hoped I could earn a little terrain before the leaders’ battle would start, as I know I would have little chance to respond to Contador and Froome’s accelerations.”

Diaz is the best Colombia-Coldeportes rider in the GC, 23th, 9.02 behind new leader Froome, who made the best of his team’s work by attacking in the final kilometres and earning just enough to take the leadership away from Contador (2nd to the line) by only one second. Another Team Sky’s rider, Spaniard Mikel Nieve, completed the day’s podium.

Worth noting for Team Colombia-Coldeportes are also Carlos Julian Quintero’s 26th place finish and the seventh overall spot in the teams’ classification. Fabio Duarte, still looking for the best physical condition, abandoned the race after 40 km.

Tomorrow, Sunday, the Spanish race will get to its conclusion with the final stage, Montilla-Alhaurin de la Torre (170 km): the slightly uphill finish will provide Contador with the last-gasp chance to unseat Froome from the top podium spot.