Sánchez and Morcillo score the first Spanish victory in the Andalucía Bike Race by Garmin

The BUFF® Scott MTB riders took victory in the first stage held in Córdoba.

Córdoba will play host to the final three stages in this eleventh edition of the Andalucía Bike Race by Garmin. Today the racers faced a stage marked by high temperatures that lasted 55 kilometers with about 1,600 meters of climbing.

José Mari Sánchez and Enrique Morcillo clinched the first Spanish victory in the Andalucia Bike Race by Garmin when they took the men's victory in the fourth stage. The Buff® Scott MTB riders managed to climb to the top of the podium today accompanied by the current race leaders, Simon Schneller and Urs Huber, from Team Bulls, and Jose Dias and Hans Becking, from Buff Scott.

In post-stage statements, José Mari Sánchez explained how the day unfolded: "Enrique latched onto the lead group and helped me to connect with them. Once we descended El Reventón still grouped, we knew it was going to be a fast stage. In the final kilometers we went into an area that I know well and where I’ve been able to train. We arrived there strong and were able to take the stage win.”

The negative note of the day was the withdrawal of Daniel Gesmayr from Trek Pirelli, who – after the fall suffered yesterday by his teammate, Samuele Porro – was the victim today in an accident that he described as fortuitous.

In the women's category, the victory went to Janine Schneider and Hildegunn Hovdenak of Tysk-Norge, who managed to cut the gap between them and Katazina Sosna and Stefanie Dohrn of Torpado Sudtirol in half. The current leaders lost almost eight minutes when they came into the finish in third. Just four minutes behind the leaders In second place in today’s stage were Bettina Janas and Estelle Morel of Sportograf – Ornans.

Hildegunn: "After three stages with several problems, today we started with a hunger for the win and it was successful. We pushed ourselves we managed to reverse our previous bad luck. It isn’t easy to compete in pairs, but for me Córdoba’s orography favors me, and the people cheering gives me a lot of strength.

Today's stage is the first of three days in which Córdoba will host the Andalucía Bike Race by Garmin. On Friday – the race’s queen stage – the cyclists will climb the mythical El Reventón, which is a very hard and technical climb that will put the participants to the test.

Rankings STAGE 4 UCI Marathon Series Men

1 José Mari Sanchez - Enrique Morcillo Buff Scott MTB || 02:29:35

2 Simon Schneller - Urs Huber TEAM BULLS || 02:29:57

3 Hans Becking - Jose Dias Buff Scott MTB || 02:30:00

Standings STAGE 4 UCI Marathon Series Women

1 Janine Schneider - Hildegunn Hovdenak tysk-norge || 03:10:24:24

2 Bettina Janas - Estelle Morel Sportograf - Ornans || 03:14:43

3 Katazina Sosna - Stefanie Regina TORPADO SUDTIROL || 03:18:07