MADRID – Joao Almeida soloed to an impressive Tour of the Basque Country stage four victory, also claiming the overall lead.
The UAE Team Emirates rider capitalised on a tricky final climb to leave his competitors behind on the 169.6 kilometre run from Beasain to Markina-Xemein, AFP reported.
The race was decided on the Category 1 mountain pass, with Portuguese cyclistAlmeida taking the lead and leaving his general classification contenders behind.
The Portuguese rider opened up a gap of around half a minute on the chase group and maintained it through the descent to the finish, crossing the line 28 seconds ahead of his rivals.
Almeida’s teammate Isaac del Toro crossed the line second, ahead of Soudal Quick-Step’s Max Schachmann, who won the opening day time-trial.
Schachmann grabbed a bonus for making the podium, allowing him to sit second overall, trailing Almeida by 30 seconds, with Red Bull’s Florian Lipowitz a further eight seconds back in third place.
Caleb Ewan flew past his rivals for a clear win on stage two of the Tour of the Basque Countryafter a flat run from Pamplona ended with a 70kph dash to the line at Lodosa.
Soudal-Quick Step’s Maximilian Schachmann retained the overall lead ahead of Team UAE’s Joao Almeida and Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull.
The bunch sprint triumph was a second win of the season for the 30-year-old Ewan, who joined Ineos in the close season.
“The team got me into a good position. I was fourth wheel when we came round that final bend,” said Ewan, known as “the pocket rocket” due to his 5-foot-5 (165cm) stature.
The finish line came after a kilometres-long motorway stretch and the peloton flew into the final 400m.
A long-range breakaway was caught just outside town but Visma’s Victor Campenaerts ended up crashing in that chase and looked ragged and in agony on the roadside.
The incident sparks painful memories of last year’s Tour of the Basque Country when a downhill fall caused by tree roots on the road took out Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard, who spent two weeks in hospital.
With four hilly or mountainous stages remaining, the stage three from Zarautz to Besain serves up seven climbs over a 153km route, the last hill is just 1.4km long, but parts are at a 16.5 per cent incline.
“We hit the hills and stage three will be a crucial one,” Schachmann said after picking up his yellow race leader’s jersey.
Schachmann of Soudal-Quick Step won the opening day individual time-trial of the Tour of the Basque Country, a 16.5km effort around Vitoria-Gastiez.
The German finished in 18min 37sec, a fraction of a second ahead of Team UAE man Joao Almeida while Red Bull’s Florian Lipowitz was third at 1sec on a tightly contested route.
“This was only a short effort,” Almeida said after the race. “But it’s a good indicator of how things might go.”
Spaniard Juan Ayuso won last year’s edition, while compatriot Carlos Rodriguez and Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose completed the podium.
A memorable downhill fall caused by tree roots on the road took out Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel in 2024, and there is a notable lack of top drawer riders at the race this year.
Former Vuelta winner Sepp Kuss leads the Visma team line-up and along with Skjelmose, Santiago Buitrago and Enric Mas is one of the men to watch.
