LOJA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Wout van Aert won his fourth career stage at the Vuelta a Espana amid scorching heat on Friday, while Enric Mas kept the red jersey.<\/p>\n
On a hot and sunny day in southern Spain, Van Aert beat fellow breakaway rider Valentin Paret-Peintre to claim the hilly 192-kilometer (119-mile) jaunt from Almu\u00f1\u00e9car to Loja.<\/p>\n
The elite Belgian rider stopped the clock at 4 1\/2 hours. It was Van Aert\u2019s first win of this edition after he won three stages in 2024. It added to his long list of triumphs, which includes 10 stages of the Tour de France and several one-day classics<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was also the fourth team win for Team Visma Lease a Bike at this edition. <\/p>\n Mas, the Movistar leader, kept his lead of 1 minute, 45 seconds over four-time former winner Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d. They crossed in a group some three minutes after Van Aert.<\/p>\n Riders had to handle more heat as thermometers recorded 36 degrees (97 F) in Loja, where the stage finished. One rider compared the heat to having a \u201chair drier blowing in your face.\u201d Another said he spent the day pouring water over himself at every opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very tough stage because of the heat and the hard pace,\u201d American rider Sepp Kuss of Visma Lease a Bike told broadcaster RTVE in fluent Spanish. \u201cIf you tried to attack, you just cracked. But we all had to compete in the same conditions. I must also thank the organizers for adding extra spots where we could grab water. If not, it would have been impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n