Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen edged a thrilling finish at the Vuelta a España ©Getty Images

Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen held off a late surge from Ireland's Sam Bennett to clinch his first Grand Tour stage victory at the Vuelta a España.

Jakobsen was given the perfect platform by his Deceuninck-QuickStep team mates on the 175.5 kilometres fourth stage from Cullera to El Puig.

Bennett, who rides for the Bora-Hansgrohe, posed a significant threat in the final stages but the Dutch national champion held on.

The Irishman settled for second place,  with Germany’s Max Walscheid of Team Sunweb was a distant third.

Ireland's Nicolas Roche maintained his overall lead and is two seconds ahead of nearest challenger Colombia’s Nairo Quintana of Movistar in the battle for the general classification title.

Roche of Team Sunweb retained the red jersey after finishing safely in the peloton.

Steven Kruijswijk had earlier abandoned the race because of a knee injury sustained in Saturday's (August 24) time trial stage.

Kruijswijk's withdrawal was confirmed in a statement from the Jumbo-Visma team on Twitter.

It said the condition of the rider's knee had worsened since the incident, which involved some of his Jumbo-Visma team mates.

The race continues tomorrow with the fifth stage, a 170.7km journey from L'Eliana to Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre.