When Wout Poels was asked if he and Ruta del Sol stage 4 breakaway rider Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Kazakstan) had reached an informal agreement that would allow the Kazakhstani to win the stage and Poels to lead, his answer was an emphatic "no." This time, it turned out that Poels wanted it all.

After the race broke apart at the hilly start of stage 4, the Bahrain Victorious rider and Rusenko were sheared off the 15-man lead group, and the two quickly opened up enough of a gap to contend for the stage win. [Poels, who had been three years without a win since taking victory from Ineos Grenadiers in the 2019 Dauphiné, explained to a small group of reporters at the finish that he wanted to go for the stage win this time.

Poels, who leads the race by 10 seconds over Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez, said after the race.

"But we haven't had many wins in the last few years.

Poels, runner-up in the 2019 Ruta del Sol, won his second stage victory in the five-day stage race, following his summit victory in La Guardia de Jaen in 2018.

This time, however, the situation was very different, as Poels had to gauge his fitness after four hours of racing through 3,000m of climbing at a blistering average speed of over 42km/h.

"It was a bit of a gamble because the conditions were not ideal with the headwind," said Poels, who led the sprint and fended off a counter charge from Lutsenko.

"But I thought, 'Go for it.' I've never had a sprint match with Luschenko, but I know he's pretty fast, and he's already won a race this year.

"So I knew I had to run very well to beat him. But it's been a long time since I've won and I've got the leader's jersey, so I'm very happy. But it's been a long time since I've won and I've got the leader's jersey, so I'm very happy.

Poels, racing for the first time this season, said that his high-altitude training camp in the Canary Islands had paid off and that this winter had gone very well.

"I trained really hard. Of course, like anyone, it's good to see it pay off a little bit right away. I'm a little more relaxed now. I'm a happy guy."

Haig said he was in Teide with a group of half a dozen of his Bahrain-Victorias teammates, including Jack Haig, Gino Mader, and Sonny Colbrelli, and that his idea of training at altitude early in the season was "a second time before the Giro d'Italia training," he said.

"I'm there to support my teammate Mikel Landa, but I also have my own opportunities.

And on Saturday at Baza, Poels proved that when the opportunity presents itself, he knows how to make the most of it.