As it happened: Jonas Vingegaard wins again in Itzulia Basque Country stage 4

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 4 of the 2023 Itzulia Basque Country

Racing will get underway in about 10 minutes time on this 175.5 kilometre stage starting and finishing in Santurtzi, a dormitory town for the nearby city of Bilbao. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is in the lead.

These are the climbs coming up today, with more than 3,600 metres of vertical climbing, there's no question the riders face another big day out in the hills of Euskadi:
Km 31: Malkuartu 3rd cat, 2.5 km, 6.7 percent
Km 80: Santa Coloma 3rd cat, 2km, 8.4 percent
Km 103.2: Bezi 3rd cat, 3.8km, 6 percent
Km 160.9: La Asturiana, 7.4km, 6.5 percent

There are also two intermediate sprints, one in the finish town:
Santurtzi: km 131.4
Larigada: km 148.7

That's between the three third cat. climbs that open up the day's challenges, and the probably definitive ascent of La Asturiana and final drop down back to Santurtzi.

The riders are now rolling through the neutralized section, a fairly lengthy 4.7 kilometres. The weather is a balmy 18 degrees and sunny, for a fourth straight day. No sign of the rain that so often affects this race, and virtually no wind either.

Here's the results from Wednesday's stage and the overall rankings as they currently stand

Jonas Vingegaard is in the lead (Jumbo-Visma) after winning stage 3's perilously steep uphill finish. You can read the report on how it all played out here:

Itzulia Basque Country: Jonas Vingegaard captures stage 3 uphill victory, takes race lead

In the other rankings we have Alex Aranburu (Movistar) in the points lead, Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) heads the mountains classification, Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) is currently ranked Best Young Rider and Movistar are on top of the teams ranking. 

And racing is now underway for stage 4 of the 2023 Itzulia Basque Country.

Aranburu, incidentally, knows what it means to win in the outskirts of Bilbao in the Itzulia Basque Country. Two years ago, the Movistar took a lone stage win at Sestao, just four kilometres away from Santurtzi  having played a brilliant tactical game with his then Astana teammate, Omar Fraile.
Aranburu outpowers favourites for impressive solo win in Itzulia Basque Country 

The 2021 stage won by Aranburu also concluded with an ascent of La Asturiana, today's final second cat. and drop back down to the Bilbao coastline. If a lot of people are following Aranburu's wheel on the final climb, then, he's only got himself to blame.

Reports of two non-starters but to be confirmed: Cristian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan) and Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH).

162 kilometres to go

And after a fast start 11-man move, including mountains leader Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), has been brought back. 

An 50 kmh average speed for the first 14 kilometres: if anybody wanted to pick up some extra race food from the teamcar or drop off some kit in the fast-rising temperatures, now isn't the moment.

Unlike Wednesday's early run along the Basque coast, today the peloton's heading south-west and inland through the hills that line three sides of the coastal city of Bilbao and its industrial hinterland. The first climb of the day, the Malkuartu, is already less than 10 kilometres away.

Three riders have a small gap:  Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies). Latour, don't forget, was already in the break of the day on Wednesday.

154 kilometres to go

No dice: despite Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost), Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and another stage 3 breakaway, Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R Citroen) joining the three ahead, the bunch pulls all six back.

Some words from race leader Jonas Vingegaard at the start today: "I'm excited to be in yellow, very happy about yesterday but today's another day. I checked out the final climb, and I know it from two years ago, it'll be exciting to watch today. We'll take it [the lead] day by day, it's a hard race and you have to do that."

147 kilometres to go

Another small breakaway manages to get a gap of around 20 seconds, so let's see it sticks. In this move are Harm Vanhoucke (DSM), Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost), Natnael Tesfatsion (Trek-Segafredo), Alan Jousseaume (Total Energies) and for a second time today, Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).  

And the five breakaways are now at the foot of the first climb of the day, 3rd cat. Malkuartu: 2.5 km at 6.7 percent. Here's an image of the ascent profile:

And here's a shot of the riders in the neutralized section of today's start/finish town of Santurtzi. That sunny weather we mentioned before was no lie.

And here's a picture of Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) at today's start. Landa placed second behind Jonas Vingegaard on the stage 3 finish and is currently the best placed of Vingegaard's rivals, five seconds back.

In the break of five, Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) claims top points on the summit of the Malkuartu to further buttress his lead in the mountains ranking.

And although Caicedo apparently struggled on that 3rd cat climb, he managed to get back into the break of five as they come off the Malkuartu and so we have five riders ahead: Caicedo, Harm Vanhoucke (DSM), Natnael Tesfatsion (Trek-Segafredo), Alan Jousseaume (Total Energies) and KoM leader Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).  

135 kilometres to go

The bunch has let these five go and we have our break of the day: 1:35 the gap.

Unconfirmed reports of a third non-starter today, by the way, Netherlands rider Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Deceuninck). 

The advantage for our five men out in front is soaring at a rate of knots: 2:40 the current gap.

124 kilometres to go

And the gap continues to rise for the five breakaways, to over five minutes. Jumbo-Visma and Bahrain Victorious pick up the pace in the bunch.

The race has now reached its most southerly point of a long loop out and back from the start/finish town of Santurtzi and having passed by the foot of the Orduna pass, one of the most famous in the Basque Country (though not climbed this year) and ridden west for a few kilometres, the peloton is heading back north towards the coast again.

111 kilometres to go

The gap is staying stable at 5:30, the biggest margin the five leaders have had so far.

And here is an image of the day's breakaway

The gap has now risen to 5:44. Less than 40 seconds higher and Harm Vanhoucke (DSM), the best placed of the quintet on GC by far, 6:22 behind yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) will be race leader on the road.

We're at the foot of the second of the four classified climbs of the day: the Santa Coloma a two kilometre third cat. with average gradients of 8.4 percent. Short, then, but pretty steep.

And here's a profile of said climb, courtesy of the race organisation.

95 kilometres to go

The gap for the five riders ahead is dropping a little: 5:30, down from the  maximum of 5:45

Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) adds another three points to his KoM classification lead at the top of the Santa Coloma. Second across the summit was Alan Jousseaume (Total Energies) and third Harm Vanhoucke (DSM).

For those seeking more information on Itzulia Basque Country stage 4 breakaway Natnael Tesfatsion, Cyclingnews interviewed the Eritrean climber back in December. 

Meet Natnael Tesfatsion, Trek-Segafredo's new Eritrean climber

Here's a photo of race leader Jonas Vingegaard during today's stage

89 kilometres to go

The gap for the five ahead has increased to 6:33. Harm Vanhoucke (DSM) is now race leader on the road.

We're getting to the point where you have to wonder if the break will go all the way. A gap of over six minutes with 80 kilometres left is not a small one, and for Jumbo-Visma and race leader Jonas Vingegaard the big advantage is that the break will soak up all the time bonuses from the intermediate sprints and the finish. With 29 riders at a minute or less on GC behind Vingegaard, that's not a minor question.

79 kilometres to go

Ten kilometres further on and the gap is sticking at 6:35.

The third of our trio of third category climbs is fast approaching: the Bezi: 3.8km at 6 percent.

Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) leads the string in the pack, followed by Ethan Hayter. And the gap is coming down.

75 kilometres to go

The effort by Ineos Grenadiers is having an effect and the gap has shrunk to 5:30. Vanhoucke's spell as race leader on the road is over.

The race is now on the long, comparatively steady slopes of the Bezi. Climb profile below:

The top of the Bezi is considerably easier than its lower slopes (which weren't overly hard either) and there are no attacks as Barrenetxea rolls through the top and snaps up another three points for the mountains classification. Barring disaster, he'll  be in the lead by the end of the stage for a fourth straight day.

69 kilometres to go

Bad news for the break: behind, Ineos Grenadiers mean business. They have five riders on the front of the bunch and the gap is now down to 4:35.

It's a broad, smooth descent off the Bezi with sweeping corners, and with the weather being so dry, the riders can take this one at speed.

Key points for the remainder of the stage are two intermediate sprints, the first at Santurtzi (km 131.4) and the next at Larigada (km 148.7). Then we've got the main feature of the day, the second category La Asturiana (km160.9): 7.4km at 6.5 percent. After a 15 kilometre descent, there's the finish in Santurtzi.

61 kilometres to go

The gap continues to drop, but only very slowly, and it's now down to 4:26. Jayco-AIUIa add a rider to the chase

The five race leaders reach the bottom of the long descent off the Bezi and almost immediately the road begins to rise again, albeit very gently.

More teams coming to the fore in the bunch as well as the hunt for the five ahead is truly on: Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain Victorious and Groupama-FDJ are all present in numbers.

50 kilometres to go

The break have 3:53 on the bunch as the main peloton sweeps through and out of the town of Muskiz, but the gap is coming down fast.

Crash in the bunch. Felix Grosschartner (UAE Team Emirates) is one of the heavier fallers.

Inigo Elosegui (Kern Pharma),  Thibaut Guernalec (Arkea-Samsic) and Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) also reported to have fallen in that crash

45 kilometres to go

The gap is now 3:00 and dropping for the five riders ahead: Harm Vanhoucke (DSM), Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost), Natnael Tesfatsion (Trek-Segafredo), Alan Jousseaume (Total Energies) and Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

The five leaders are in the finish town of Santurtzi, passing through the finish area before tackling the last loop of the day.

Jayco-AIUIa have taken over from Ineos Grenadiers on a slight rise out of Santurtzi and back into the hills.

40 kilometres to go

Ineos Grenadiers come back to support Jayco-AIUIa again and the gap drops to under two minutes. At this rate the break will be lucky to make it to the foot of La Asturiana ahead.

Grosschartner is back up and running after that crash, but he's got a lot of rips in his kit and some road grime as well. 

Stage 1 winner Ethan Hayter puts his shoulder to the wheel for Ineos Grenadiers on the front of the bunch.

Tesfatsion took the three seconds and maximum points in the intermediate sprint at Santurtzi, by the way, with Jousseaume and Barrenetxea in second and third.

The race has reached the coast again and the gap is down to 1:07 on the approach to the second intermediate sprint.

Jumbo-Visma's Twitter account says that Rohan Dennis has abandoned the race.

30 kilometres to go

The gap for the five is down to 18 seconds. It's all over bar the shouting.

29 kilometres to go

Luke Plapp (ineos Grenadiers) drives hard and the bunch can see the break ahead on a short climb.

Barrenetxea has lost contact with the break.

Caicedo has also gone from the break as they approach the hot spot sprint of the day.

The break is back and the GC leaders are going for the sprint

And none other than Jonas Vingegaard, the race leader, takes the top spot in the sprint, just outpacing Ion Izagirre (Cofidis). Three seconds more for the Dane on GC.

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), by the way, got third.

After that second intermediate sprint, we're now approaching the final climb of the day, La Asturiana, 7.4km, 6.5 percent average gradient. The hardest part is at the bottom.

22 kilometres to go

Jayco-AIUIa are on the front along with Arkea-Samsic, speeding through a town towards the foot of the climb.

As the race hits the foot of La Asturiana, Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) is looking very good on the front of the pack.

Chaves teammate Richard Carapaz is right behind him in second spot, and Vingegaard is in third. Could the GC battle kick off?

The road is quite narrow, but relatively well-surfaced as they head steadily upwards through some dense woodland. Bunch is down to 80 riders at most.

More EF Education-EasyPost riders are now leading the string, as Chaves drops back to second place.

After a long turn by former Vuelta a España leader Odd Christian Elking, EF teammate RIgoberto Urán moves to the head. 

20 kilometres to go

But it's Jonas Vingegaard who attacks, and he quickly opens a gap. This is a GC battle and a half.

Vingegaard looks back and sees Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) trying to surge across.

Landa joins Vingegaard. The top two riders on GC are leading the race.

Landa and Vingegaard are opening up a gap and working together on La Asturiana. The Dane has eight seconds advantage on Landa on GC after snatching a three second time bonus earlier on today.

Enric Mas (Movistar) is trying to close the gap on Vingegaard and Landa, but it looks like he's got a fight on his hands. 

18 kilometres to go

Vingegaard and Landa  have a gap of around 200 metres, as the road narrows a little and eases slightly after the steepest early sections.

Five riders in a chase group behind Landa and Vingegaard: Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mas, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo). More riders are joining them from behind. 

Two kilometres from the summit and the two stage (and GC) leaders have 30 seconds on a group of some 20 riders.

McNulty and Skjelmose try to counterattack with James Knox (Soudal-QuickStep).

15.5 kilometres to go

Vingegaard is doing most of the work ahead now, Landa shadowing the GC leader. Behind, after McNulty's attack failed to work out, there's some hesitation.

The two leaders, Vingegaard ahead, sweep along the notably easier gradient towards the wooded summit of La Asturiana and across the summit with 25 seconds advantage. 

Landa comes through on the early part of the descent. It's a narrow road, but thankfully dry and not overly twisty so far.

Skjelmose is leading the chase, helped by Izagirre, but there's really no clear collaboration.

A flick of the elbow from Vingegaard and Landa comes through on the fast, sweeping descent.

12 kilometres to go

30 second gap for the two ahead as they pass through a seriously technical section in a small town.

Thankfully the leaders are back onto a broader road and they've got a short climb ahead before the final drop down into Santurtzi.

On the attack on stage 3, Knox is driving hard behind now as he tries to whip the pursuit into some kind of organised chase. But so far the gap is holding at around 30 seconds.

Nine kilometres to go

The road is descending steadily now, and Landa leads Vingegaard through one of many hairpins. 27 seconds the gap.

Mattia Cattaneo and his Soudal-QuickStep teammate Knox are leading a group of around 20 chasers. But for now it's advantage Vingegaard and Landa.

Landa and Vingegaard are still speeding down the descent into Santurtzi while behind the pursuit is looking a fraction more committed. The road remains broad and well-surfaced, but there are a lot of corners.

Landa's back wheel wobbled a bit on a tricky corner, but he's stayed upright.

Four kilometres to go

The two have a gap of 25 seconds as they hit Santurtzi.

Much flatter terrain now and even a slight kick-up, but Landa and Vingegaard are still collaborating smoothly.

Soudal-QuickStep are chasing hard behind, mind. And the gap is down to 22 seconds. This is going to be tight.

2.5 kilometres to go

The gap is shrinking, but too slowly for the two to be caught for now. 20 seconds their lead for now.

Two kilometres to go

And the gap drops to 12 seconds as they power through Santurtzi.

Vingegaard leads Landa towards the final kilometre sign. Barring major messing around, it's going to be a two-up sprint for the stage.

The two are looking back and playing cat and mouse. But the gap is big enough for now to stay away.

Vingegaard leads out the sprint and gets the win by a tiny margin over Landa. The chasing group is only a few metres behind.

Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 4 of the 2023 Itzulia Basque Country.

That's two out of two for Vingegaard, who's strengthened his overall lead over the Basque as well.

Vingegaard was challenged by Landa all the way to the line, but he held off Landa by enough for the stage win by a bike length.

Mauro Schmid (Soudal-QuickStep) claimed third on the stage, two seconds back behind Landa and Vingegaard. That's his second stage podium finish in Itzulia after taking second on the opening day behind Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers).

In the overall battle, Vingegaard has now more than doubled his lead on Landa, and has a 12 second advantage on his closest rival. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is third, at 31 seconds back. 

At the risk of stating the obvious, the 2023 Itzulia Basque Country looks to be Vingegaard's to lose now. He's won two climbing stages back to back, beating Landa on both occasions. 

However, this is the Itzulia Basque Country and it is famous for remaining on a knife-edge right up until the last minute, as Vingegaard  pointed out before the stage.

Some words from Mikel Landa, second on the stage and second on GC. He's rarely one to beat around the bush and on this occasion he certainly doesn't: "I tried to stay coldblooded about it all, but then I was just lacking a little bit in the finale." Discussing the climb when Vingegaard attacked, he said, "I knew I had to get on Vingegaard's wheel when he went and then it was basically all I could do to hold onto him."

And here's a photo of our two men of the moment on the decisive La Asturiana climb...

Words from Jonas Vingegaard, leader of the race and winner of stage 4: "I'm first of all very happy to take the win today, I didn't expect that this morning. But I felt good on the last climb and people were attacking and then I was thinking why not try myself? And MIkel Landa came up but we  started working together. They came close in the end but still I was able to win the sprint, so I'm really happy about that."
Are you the strongest? "I don't know, there's a lot of strong guys here it's a really strong peloton. Today I felt great so why not try... it was a pity they came so close in the end, we would have liked to have had the 30 seconds we had at one point but that's how it is, that's bike racing. Tomorrow's another tricky stage, so now we have to look at tomorrow and see how it is."

And here's a photo of Vingegaard crossing the line to claim his second stage of the 2023 race.

In the secondary classification, Vingegaard has ousted Alex Aranburu (Movistar) to move atop of the points classification, Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) remains atop the mountains ranking, and Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) is likewise still ahead in the Best Young Rider competition. Soudal-QuickStep have taken over from Movistar as Best Team of the race.

Like stage 4, stage 5 of the 2020 Itzulia Basque Country on Friday is another circuit, starting and finishing in the town of Amorebieta-Etxano. 165.9 kilometres long, it’s got a lumpy profile with several second and third categories, but the key moment of the stage will likely be the three short, punishingly steep, ‘walls’ in the finale, the last peaking out with some five kilometres to go and preceding a fast drop down to the finish.

For Cyclingnews' full report on the day's proceedings at Itzulia Basque Country, the link is here: Itzulia Basque Country: Vingegaard makes it two in a row on stage 4

And that's all for today from Itzulia Basque Country. Stage 5 will be covered live here again on Friday.