Alejandro Valverde gets timing right for victory

Alejandro Valverde timed his attack perfectly on a steep finish to the fourth stage. Picture: Jose Jordan/AFP

The 35-year-old Spanish veteran perfectly timed his late charge on the final uphill push and held off Peter Sagan to keep the Slovak from claiming a second straight stage. Valverde crossed the finish line of the 209.6-kilometre (130.2-mile) route from Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera in five hours, seven minutes and 30 seconds.

Valverde, who won the three-week Grand Tour in 2009 and finished this year’s Tour de France in third place, moved up in the general classification from seventh to fifth place, 25 seconds behind Chaves.

Valverde opened up a 15-second gap over Tour winner and race favourite Chris Froome, who finished in 19th place and remains 40 seconds off Chaves’ pace.

Nairo Quintana, Valverde’s Movistar team-mate, stayed 36 seconds behind Chaves.

The long stage in sunny southern Spain was largely flat, except for the last four kilometres when it climbed through narrow streets.

Valverde said the only reconnaissance of the course he had had time to do was via Google Maps. “We saw that it was a demanding finish and it could be good for me,” he said. “I kept my cool and waited because I knew the final 500 metres were very tough, and I chose my moment to strike.”

Six riders broke away early in the stage and opened up a gap of over 13 minutes, but the peloton swallowed up the last two with 6.8 miles left.

Americans Tejay Van Garderen and Andrew Talansky were involved in a minor pile-up at slow speeds as the peloton squeezed around a curve with around 20.5 miles to go. They both managed to rejoin the pack before the finish. Chaves will wear the red jersey on today’s fifth stage, a flat 167.3-kilometre (103.9-mile) route from Rota to Alcala de Guadaira.

“The last climb was hard and I was nervous, but my team put me at the front,” said Chaves, who rides for Orica-GreenEdge. “The key is to believe. I have, after all, worn the jersey for three days.”

n Sheffield’s Adam Blythe has signed for Tinkoff-Saxo for the 2016 season.

The 25-year-old, who in 2015 rode for Orica-GreenEdge, will work in support of Peter Sagan in the Classics, Tinkoff-Saxo announced.

Blythe said: “I consider Tinkoff-Saxo to be the best team in the world that has the best Classics rider in the world, Peter Sagan.

“It will be a dream to me to support Peter in the best of  my abilities so that he wins a Classic.”

Blythe raced for Omega Pharma-Lotto for two seasons before spending 2012 and 2013 at BMC Racing.

In 2014 he joined continental team NFTO, racing under Tinkoff-Saxo sporting director Sean Yates, and won the Prudential RideLondon Classic.