Turner takes stage 4 and Gaudu goes into overall lead in Vuelta

Ben Turner of INEOS Grenadier won a bunch sprint to claim the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana cycling race Tuesday.

Turner finished ahead of Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck to win his first Grand Tour stage after Philipsen was slightly blocked in the closing meters.

David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ took the overall leader's red jersey from Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike. Although the pair have the same time, Vingegaard finished further back in the peloton, meaning the Frenchman took the overall lead based on his higher placing throughout the race.

The longest stage of this year's Vuelta started in the Italian town of Susa and finished 206.7 kilometers (128.5 miles) later in the French city of Voiron. Although classed as "medium mountain" by race organizers, all the climbing was in the first half.

With a potentially decisive team time trial Wednesday, the riders were content to save energy. Tension rose only in the closing kilometers, as sprinters' teams fought for position on narrow roads that increased the risk of a crash.

Philipsen looked well-placed after failing to finish Monday's hilly stage in the main group. Although Edward Planckaert gave him a lead-out that should have set him up for the win, Turner's advance on his right blocked the Belgian in. By the time Philipsen accelerated, Turner had enough of a lead to reach the finish line first.

The race holds its first Spanish stage Wednesday with a 24.1-kilometer (15-mile) team time trial that starts and finishes in Figueres. The discipline should favor Vingegaard's team or Lidl-Trek, which has Giulio Ciccone in third place, just eight seconds behind the leaders.