Refresh
That group has been caught – it was too big and unruly to be allowed up the road.
Pello Bilbao has managed to sneak into this group. He’s not too far down on GC, in 13th at 3:42.
A very large group of over 20 riders is trying to go clear. This is developing into a very hectic start!
Here is the updated KOM classification:
2 Seixas 13
3 Arrieta 13
4 Skjelmose 8
5 Baudin 6
6 Mintegi 6
The peloton remains together as they descend the climb.
It’s been announced that Roger Adrià has abanoned the race having started today. It’s unclear yet why.
He’s been brought, as has every other attempted attacker so far, and the race remains all together.
Andreas Kron has used these gradients to attack out the bunch and gain a small lead.
They’re on the Aretxabalgane now.
The riders are about to start climbing, up the 4.5km, 5.3% Aretxabalgane. That should provide a springboard for strong climbers and puncheurs to try and form a breakaway.
There have been attacks, but nothing has stuck so far.
The peloton is one rider short of those who finished yesterday – Emanuel Buchmann, whose tough start to the season continues.
The riders have gathered at Galdakao, and have just set off from the unofficial start.
Today’s is the kind of parcours that can make for very unpredictable racing – there’s lots of climbing, but not one standout climb in terms of difficulty. Of the seven climbs in total, six of them are rated category three, with just the final one rated category two.
That was the case yesterday, when the bunch gave up the chase to allow the breakaway riders to make it to the finish, with Ineos’ Axel Laurance coming out on top. Here’s a reminder of how the stage went down.
Alternatively, setting Seixas up for another stage win would involve lots of effort to control the race by his Decathlon CMA CGM team, as there are surely multiple teams and riders who will want to try attacking, and few who believe they could beat the Frenchman in a mano y mano battle. This does therefore seem like a promising day for a breakaway to succeed.
Paul Seixas remains in the yellow jersey, and, if he has the appetite, today could be an opportunity for a third stage win in four days. There’s more climbing than yesterday, when he went into defensive mode, including a late climb averaging 8% for 3.2km that looks like an ideal springboard.
Hello and welcome to stage four of Itzulia Basque Country!
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.