Durán shows his worth in Navarra stage 4

Arkaitz Durán climbed to his seventh win of the year in yesterday's fourth stage of the Vuelta a Navarra. Jon Larrinaga was Naturgas' top rider in 36th.

The 132km leg from Lesaka to San Miguel de Aralar was always going to be tough on the peloton with its four categorized climbs, the last one, a cat.1, also the site of the finish line. Breaks struggled to form under overnight leader Steve Bekaert's team Lotto-Belisol-Davo's relentless high pace throughout, and it was all to play for on the ultimate climb.

Durán distanced former Andorra-Grandvalira pro Eduard Prades, the Catalan who recently took out the overall Copa de España, by 29 seconds, while Lizarte's own former pro, Higinio Fernández, grabbed the last place on the podium 53 seconds down. Bekaert had a great ride to fourth to maintain his overall lead.

Larrinaga was once again the team's strongest rider, taking 36th at 2:38, and is now 22nd on GC.

Today's 130km lumpy fifth stage into Pamplona will bring the curtains down on this year's Vuelta a Navarra.

Stage four results:

• 1, Arkaitz Durán (Azysa), 3:33:30
• 2, Eduard Prades (Mopesa), 0:29
• 3, Higino Fernández (Lizarte), 0:53
• 4, Steve Bekaert (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), 1:00
• 5, Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), 1:02
• 36, Jon Larrinaga (Naturgas Energía), 2:38
• 40, Mikel Iturria (Naturgas Energía), 5:04
• 53, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 6:44
• 58, Víctor Etxeberria (Naturgas Energía), 10:30
• 90, Francisco Javier Martín (Naturgas Energía), 17:07

Photo: www.diariovasco.com