As it happened: Change in leadership at Itzulia Basque Country as stage won with successful solo attack

Hello and welcome to stage four of Itzulia Basque Country.

After yesterday’s barnstormer of a stage, today’s parcours throws up another cocktail of relentless climbing that should treat us to yet more action-packed racing.

The drama didn’t end yesterday when the riders finished racing, as Alex Aranburu was first relegated, then restored, as stage winner. The judges deemed that the Spaniard was following the instructions from the signage on the course when deviating from the race route around a roundabout.

Just like yesterday, there will be a grand total of seven categorised climbs. The main difference to yesterday is that the climbs generally aren’t quite as hard, with all of the first six being designated categorised three status - but also that the hardest, the category one Izua, has this been saved until last.

This may deter riders from attacking early in quite such as gung ho a manner as yesterday. But the parcours is there for any teams or riders who do want a chaotic stage, and this remains a very open race, with no clear overall favourite.

We might get a decent idea of how calm or chaotic this stage will be based on how many riders try to get into the day’s break. The battle to do so will commence soon - the riders are poised and making their way through the neutralised zone as we speak.

We’re down three riders overnight: Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL) and Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla) have all pulled out.

OFFICIAL START

And they're off!

The classification leaders today are Max Schachmann in yellow, João Almeida in green, Bruno Armirail in polka-dots and Romain Grégoire as the best young rider.

Fifteen riders have formed a group at the front of the race and have a small lead.

Not enough of a lead though - they've been brought back.

There were blue skies at the start in Beasain today, the weather smiling kindly on the riders for a race that is often affected by rain.

Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Pharma leads the race currently having attacked out of the bunch on his own

160KM TO GO

Uriarte has a lead of a few seconds, as we complete the first 10km of racing.

His escapade has not lasted long, however, as he’s reeled back in by the bunch. 

Good news for fans of aggressive racing - Julain Alaphilippe has attacked! There’s never a dull moment when he gets into the breakaway.

Alaphilippe has gone clear with compatriot Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), and they have a lead over the peloton of about 15 seconds.

Alaphilippe’s gone clear of Guglielmi and now leads the race alone. He’s using a long, uncategorised uphill section to try and build a gap.

Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) have jumped out of the peloton and are chasing after Alaphilippe.

The peloton all strung out as riders try to form a break.

Alaphilippe, Guglielmi, Schmid and Hollmann have all come together to form a leading quartet.

150KM TO GO

Those for riders have a lead of 15 seconds as they descend back down the uncategorised climb.

Whereas the other three riders in this break are over ten minutes down on GC, Julian Alaphilippe may still be considered a pertinent threat at 1-55. His presence may spell the break’s doom if the GC teams deem him enough of a danger.

Their lead is going up rather than down for now, though. It’s just risen to over 20 seconds. 

140KM TO GO

The gap continues to grow, albeit not decisively. It's at 40 seconds for now.

Alaphilippe and Guglielmi going clear of the peloton together earlier, before they were joined by Schmid and Hollmann.

ASENTZIO

The riders have begun the first of the day's seven ascents, the Asentzio. Unlike the others, it's long and shallow rather than short and steep, averaging 3.8% for 9.7km.

The pace is up in the peloton, and the gap is coming down on this climb.

Three riders have attacked out of the peloton and are trying to bridge up to the leaders - Andrea Bagioli, Sepp Kuss and Harold Tejada.

They've joined up to them, but behind the peloton is bearing down on them mere seconds away.

And now they've been caught, the race is all back together. Almost an hour of racing done and we have no break!

130KM TO GO

We're still waiting for a new break to form as the riders near the top of the climb.

Here's Alaphilippe out alone in front earlier. Don't be surprised if we see him attacking again later on today.

At the top of the climb, current King of the Mountains Bruno Armirail had some competition from Marc Soler, who defeated him at the line to take maximum points. Dani Martínez took the sole remaining point.

Here’s the updated KOM standings:

1 Bruno Armirail 14 points

2 Marc Soler 9 

3 Brandon McNulty 6

4 Max Schachmann 6

5 Diego Uriarte 5

120KM TO GO

A new break might be forming on the descent of the climb. Five riders have a gap of a few seconds. 

Alas, it is not to be - the group has been brought back.

Ben Healy and Mauro Schmid are the latest riders to attack.

They've been joined by Quinn Simmons.

Thibault Guernalec has jumped out of the bunch in an attempt to join this one too.

José Manuel Díaz joins Guernalec in the chase.

But now Díaz and Guernalec have been caught by the peloton, leaving just the three out in front.

110KM TO GO

It’s looking promising for the leading trio of Healy, Schmid and Simmons - their lead has grown to over 40 seconds. They’re a strong group of riders and the peloton will have to ride hard to bring them back.

Looking back to yesterday, Romain Grégoire was not happy with how the results were conducted, as he made clear to the media at the start of today’s stage. The Frenchman was promoted to first upon Alex Aranburu’s initial relegation, only to be demoted back to second after the organisers went back on the decision.

More riders have attacked out the peloton and are catching up to the leaders.

Among them are representatives of some of the top GC teams - Marc Soler for UAE Team Emirates, Finn Fisher-Black for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, and Andrea Bagioli for Lidl-Trek.

Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Alex Baudin are the other 2 riders with those 3.

100KM TO GO

There are about 20 seconds between the leading trio and the chasing five, who are only just 10 seconds ahead of the peloton.

ALTO DE MUNIKETAGANE

The riders are climbing again, this time up the Alto de Muniketagane (2.9km at 7%).

The five chasers have caught the three leaders, forming a new lead group.

Healy led over the climb to take the 3 KOM points, ahead of Simmons and Schmid. None of those riders were in the mix for the polka-dot jersey so the standings remain as they were.

This is a very strong breakaway group, and they're managing to forge a gap. Their lead over the peloton is over a minute.

They've also been joined by a ninth rider, Léo Bisiaux of Decathlon-AG2R. At 3-00 he's also the highest among them on GC.

BIZKAIKO BEGIRATOKIA

Almost immediately after finishing the previous climb, the road tilted uphill again for Bizkaiko Begiratokia. The order of the top was the same as last time: Healy, Simmons, then Schmid. 

That means Healy is now up to fifth on the KOM standings. Having fallen out of GC contention, he seems to be targetting polka-dots now instead. 

They're now appraching the top of the day's fourth climb, Alto de Gontzegaraine. This one's 2.6km at 63%.

This time Soler takes the points at the top, ahead of Bagioli and Kuss, meaning he's closing in on Armirail's lead on the KOM rankings.

The updated standings:

1 Bruno Armirail 14 points

2 Marc Soler 12 

3 Brandon McNulty 6

4 Max Schachmann 6

5 Ben Healy 6

80KM TO GO

A brief moment of respite now, as they descend for a little while following that flurry of climbs. The break's lead survived them intact, remaining at about 50 seconds.

Back in the peloton, Txomin Juaristi and Ander Okamika have attacked in an unlikely bid to join the leaders. They're representing two of the wildcard teams who failed to make the break, Euskaltel - Euskadi and Burgos Burpellet BH respectively.

LEKOITZEGANE

The rest hasn't lasted for long - they're now climbing Lekoitzegane, the steepest effort so far at 7.6% for 3.3km.

Here are the riders in the break, being led by Sepp Kuss.

Impressively, Juaristi and Okamika have managed to join the leading break. That gives much-wanted representation for both Euskaltel - Euskadi and Burgos Burpellet BH.

70KM TO GO

The race is much more settled now, which is partly how those two chasers were able to join the break. Their lead over the peloton has been allowed to grow to 1-40.

They've crested the climb, and Soler again was the first man over - which means he is the new virtual King of the Mountains.

The updated rankings:

1 Marc Soler 15 points

2 Bruno Armirail 14 

3 Brandon McNulty 6

4 Max Schachmann 6

5 Ben Healy 6

Soudal-QuickStep are the team leading the chase in the peloton, for overall leader Max Schachmann.

Significantly they’re the only team in the top 6 of GC who don’t have a rider in the break - Florian Lipowit’s Red Bull have Finn Fisher-Black, João Almeida’s UAE Team Emirates have Marc Soler, Matthias Skjelmose’s Lidl-Trek have Quinn Simmons, and Wilco Kelderman’s Visma-Lease a Bike have Sepp Kuss.

60KM TO GO

The race is calm, with the next cimb not coming for about another 10km. The gap’s gone up to 2 minutes, and some riders in the peloton are taking comfort breaks.

As well as Soudal-QuickStep, Bahrain-Victorious are pace-setting in the peloton. They’ve missed the move, but must have something in mind for Santiago Buitrago, either for the stage win, and/or to leap up from his current standing of 13th on GC at 1-36.

The final climb looks very well-suited to a light-weight puncheur like Buitrago. He must hope to fly away from the field on its super-steep slopes, which averages 9.6% for 3.5km.

The calmed down peloton, being led by Schachmann's Soudal-QuickStep's team. 

MILLOI

The pace is up again now, however, as the riders start the penultimate climb of the day - the 3.5km, 3.9% Milloi.

The increase in pace in the peloton has been felt by the break, who’s lead has come down to 1-35.

Soler leads the break of the top of the climb, taking the 3 points uncontested.

Now Bahrain-Victorious lead the peloton over the top, 1-30 behind.

50KM TO GO

After the riders have finished this short descent, they will take on a long flat section before the final climb. How well the break can maintain and/or build their current lead of about 1-20 over this stretch will be crucial in determining whether they are able to survive today to contest for the stage win.

Here’s the updated KOM standings:

1 Marc Soler 18 points

2 Bruno Armirail 14 

3 Brandon McNulty 6

4 Max Schachmann 6

5 Ben Healy 6

At the moment, the gap’s neither coming down nor coming up, remaining at about 1-25. There are some very strong climbers in the break, notably Soler and Kuss, but this is such a hard final climb that you sense they may need more of a head start going into it.

The DS of EF is on race radio telling his two riders in the break, Healy and Baudin, that they need to speed things up, as their lead is starting to fall. The peloton are back to within 1-20 of them.

40KM TO GO

The break pass over an intermediate sprint point, though nobody contests it. The stage win is what they're after, and they still have hope, the gap still at around 1-25.

It's Bahrain-Victorious, rather than Soudal-QuickStep, who are doing all the work in the peloton. They clearly believe in Buitrago today - the Colombian is under pressure to perform. 

Cohesion is breaking up in the lead group. Splits are appearing as they attack each other.

They join together, but the impetus has gone out of the group. Their lead has consequently come down, to 1-10.

Schachmann is back with his team car, discussing matters before this all-important final climb. This isn’t his kind of climb, with its steep slopes, and he faces a real challenge to keep hold of the yellow jersey.

30KM TO GO

The break’s lead has stopped coming down, steadying at 1-10. Not too long until they start the climb.

The break might be working together better again, but they’re still going backwards. The lead’s dipped to beneath under a minute. 

The pace is really up in the peloton now as they approach the foot of the climb. They’re only about 7km away from it now.

20KM TO GO

The riders in the break are out of the saddle as they begin the uphill valley road before the start of the official climb. Their lead is down to just 30 seconds.

The gap is such that the riders in the break with GC contenders in the peloton aren't even going to be of much use for their leaders - they're not going to be able to give them much of a pull having already been brought back this close.

The break is about to be caught.

Some aren't giving up yet, they've attacked again to try and stay out for just a little longer. 

That's it, all of the breakaway riders have been caught. The race is all back together, just as they're about to start the climb.

IZUA

Lidl-Trek lead the peloton onto the climb.

A Bahrain-Victorious rider takes over at the front.

Buitrago is second in line behind his teammate.

And now Buitrago has a small gap. He hasn't attacked, but inched away from the rest of the field on these super-steep slopes.

Florian Lipowitz is about to bridge up to Buitrago.

Lipowitz drags back the rest of the peloton, now with only about 25 riders left in it, to Buitrago.

Almeida takes over at the front.

Schachmann is beginning to drop back further down the group.

Almeida has Buitrago on his wheel, who has Lipowitz on his.

Almeida has a small gap now.

Almeida is going clear.

Lipowitz is behind him chasing, with an Astana rider.

Clément Champoussin is the Astana rider.

Almeida has a gap of a few seconds, and is the virtual yellow jersey.

Aranburu has joined the two chasers.

Almeida has 1,500m left to climb, and a big advantage over Lipowitz, Champoussin and Aranburu

Almeida's built a big lead here. It must be about 20 seconds already.

Several riders have joined the three chasers.

Almeida crests the climb, flanked by loads of cheering Basque fans.

Oscar Onley and Enric Mas are two of the riders who have joined the chasers, and are now leading that group.

There are about 10 riders in this chase group, and they've just reached the top of the climb 25 seconds after Almeida.

Also in this group with Lipowitz, Champoussin and Aranburu are Mas, Onley, Van Wilder, Skjelmose, Buitrago, Tejada, Kelderman and Berthet.

Aranburu has taken off on this descent - he's trying to repeat yesterday's trick!

8km to go for Almeida.

Schachmann is not in the main chase group - he stands to lose the yellow jersey.

Or is he? Schachmann is coming back to the chase group and about to rejoin.

He's rejoined, but will need to catch Almeida if he wants to keep the jersey. Almeida is only 4 seconds behind him on GC.

Del Toro and Martin have also made it back with Schachmann.

5KM TO GO

Still 25 seconds for Almeida over the chase group, as he enters 5km to go. This is looking good for him.

There are about 15 riders in this chase group, including all the other riders in the top 6 on GC.

3km to go for Alemida, and he has 30 seconds.

2km to go and he still has 30 seconds. Almeida is sure to win this one.

This chase is disorganised, with nobody leading it. This is playing to Almeida in the long-term, with him standing to gain lots of time in the GC race as well as the stage.

1KM TO GO

30 seconds is the lead, with 1km to go.

The chasers are attacking each other rather than chasing Almeida.

JOAO ALMEIDA WINS

How big will his gap be?

Del Toro leads the sprint for second in the chase group, about 29 seconds behind.

Schachmann sprinted for third to claim a time bonus, meaning he'll end the day second overall behind Almeida.

13 riders reached the line in the chase group together, 28 seconds after Almeida. Not among them was Buitrago, who was distanced at some point - a big disappointment for Bahrain-Victorious after all the work they did throughout the day.

Aside from Almeida leapfrogging both Schachmann and Lipowitz, the top 6 on GC remain as it was, with Van Wilder in 4th, Skjelmose 5th and Kelderman 6th.

Almeida therefore takes control of the race, but is sure to come under a lot of pressure. He still has four riders within 1-00 of him.

Almeida also has a record of letting slip strong positions in recent months. He led Volta a la Comunitat before handing over the jersey to Buitrago, and looked poised to potentially win Volta ao Algarve only for Jonas Vingegaard to leapfrog him on the final stage.

The Portuguese rider will be desperate to seal what would be a first stage race title since 2021.

In what was an all-round great day for UAE Team Emirates, Del Toro also won the sprint to give them a one-two, while Marc Soler also took the lead in the KOM classification.

In fact, UAE now have three of the four jerseys, as Almeida takes over from Schachmann at the top of the points classification. Just as Alemdia wore the green jersey on loan from him today, tomorrow will see Schachmann wear green as Almeida wears yellow.

Thanks for joining us today. You can read our report of all that happened today here, and be sure to return tomorrow for what will be another climb-filled penultimate stage of the race.