Ion Izagirre took stage four of the Tour of the Basque Country 2021 in a photo finish ahead of fellow Basque rider Pello Bilbao from a select group that went away on the descent of the final climb.

Izagirre (Astana - Premier Tech) went away with three other riders including third overall, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), to bridge to Esteban Chaves (BikeExchange), and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) before powering to the line and narrowly beating Bilbao in the sprint.

Behind, the peloton was very disorganised with only Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) willing to do work on the front of the bunch until around 4km to go when help eventually arrived.

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Because of the poor chase, McNulty turned his 30-second deficit on overall leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) to a lead of 23 seconds as he goes into the yellow jersey of the overall leader going into stage five tomorrow.

How it happened

The day started in Vitoria-Gasteiz with yet another undulating profile to get over before finishing in Hondarribia after 189.2km.

Just four men managed to get in the break in the end after a big battle to get up there, but didn’t manage to get a gap bigger than four minutes. The riders who made it up there were Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo), and Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citroën).

The gap was being dragged back very quickly as they hit the penultimate climb of the day, the famous Jaiskibel. Various teams took on the pacing bringing the gap down to under a minute with 43km to go.

The break broke down with O’Connor and López going away from the other two riders who were swallowed up by the peloton, holding 44 seconds over the top.

Team BikeExchange were the team that decided they would be the ones to have full control of the pack just before the top of the Jaiskibel with Adam Yates’ Ineos Grenadiers squad sitting just behind.

UAE Team Emirates chose to lead the peloton down the descent with Marc Hirschi ahead of McNulty and Tadej Pogačar who was being closely followed by Roglič and Yates.

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The break made it to the foot of the final climb of the Erlaitz as Lopez went clear solo to try and take the combativity prize for the day but he was brought back very swiftly by the UAE Team Emirates led peloton.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana - Premier Tech) was the first rider to hit out with Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) on the wheel. Pogačar jumped onto it which then brought it all back again.

Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) kicked on soon after but the big names were not keen on letting the Basque star get away with 24km to go. Esteban Chaves (BikeExchange) and McNulty pushed out of the group across to Landa.

Jumbo-Visma just kept the pace relatively high for Roglič with 24km to go, but McNulty continued to pull out the gap with Landa and Chaves following the young American. Chaves lost touch about 300 metres later.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) upped the pace in the peloton for Roglič to pull McNulty, Landa and Chaves back just before the peak of the Erlaitz climb with 22km to go.

Chaves tried again on the descent with Bilbao and managed to pull out a decent gap. A counter-attack of defending champion Izagirre, Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vingegaard and McNulty pushed across to the leading trio, making contact with 18km to go.

Back in the peloton it was Hugh Carthy working for his EF Education-Nippo leader and Colombian champion Sergio Higuita but nobody else was happy to work as the gap rocketed up to 22 seconds in very short order.

Carthy was not shutting the gap which then brought an attack from Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Carthy quickly got Higuita to follow but Roglič’s team-mate, Antwan Tolhoek was not allowing him to stay away.

No one was chasing in the peloton going into the final 10km which saw the gap go out to 53 seconds. James Knox (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) went solo to try and bridge the gap.

Buchmann attacked with 1.6km to go but Bilbao pulled it all back together again, Buchmann tried once more with 900 metres to go followed by a counter by Chaves with 700 metres. Back at the peloton, some helpers had got back in to help their leaders.

It was far too late though for the main pack. Chaves was caught with 200 metres to go when the sprint opened up, Bilbao and Izagirre battled to the line with the latter taking the stage. McNulty took an important four-second bonus in third place as he took over the overall standings from Roglič.

Stage five is seen as the Basque Country's version of a sprint stage, but it could be yet another exciting day of racing or even a long-range breakaway. The day starts in today's finish town of Hondarribia before heading over yet more hilly terrain to Ondarra after 160.2km.

Results

Tour of the Basque Country 2021, stage four: Vitoria-Gasteiz to Hondarribia (189.2km)

1. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Astana-Premier Tech, in 4-17-07

2. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious

3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma

5. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time

6. Esteban Chaves (Col) Team BikeExchange, at 2s

7. Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 49s

8. James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

9. Quinten Hermans (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

10. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, all at same time

General classification after stage four

1. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, in 12-25-21

2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 23 seconds

3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 28s

4. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 36s

5. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, at 43s

6. Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-02

7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-07

8. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, at 1-13

9. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-15

10. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 1-23

A brave attack in the closing 3.5km saw Adam Yates take victory in the final stage at the 59th edition of the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday.

Despite a concerted chase, the British rider managed to hold on ahead of Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), with the Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang in third.

Fuglsang’s Astana team-mate, local rider Ion Izagirre, was fourth on the day, and won the overall classification, after the team had animated the whole day to overhaul the lead of Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Though the Basque rider’s victory was secure when he crossed the line, the race ended in farce as Buchmann who took a wrong turn, following a television motorcycle in the final few hundred metres.

The German had looked set to finish second overall, but the time lost turning round meant he finish off the final podium in fourth place.

Izagirre was only 54 seconds behind Buchmann at the start of the day and it was his Astana team who initiated the five man winning move more than 60km from the line.

With Martin’s Slovenian team-mate Tadej Podačar, the five escapees worked cohesively until the Irishman attacked on a short ramp after the final classified climb, around 12km out.

During a brief ensuing lull Buchmann began to close the gap on the leaders, but when Yates attacked their advantage grew once again and Izagirre's win was certain.

How it happened

The short but tough final stage tackled six classified climbs over its 118.2km, with the first, San Miguel coming just nine kilometres in.

Second over that first climb, Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) was joined by Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and the pair managed to gain a small lead before being joined by 17 others, forming a group of 19 at the front of the race.

The lead built out to around 1-30, though in what was clearly a pre-planned move, Astana set a blistering pace hoping to elevate Izagirre, to the race lead.

As they approached the fourth climb to Azurki and its 10 per cent pitches, not only did the leading group begin to disintegrate, but so did the peloton under pressure of the Kazakh team.

Despite their earlier advantage, the break was caught on the opening slopes and, with the race in tatters Fuglsang attacked, dropping race leader Buchmann.

With the German suffering on the steepest gradients, Izagirre bridged across and was soon followed by Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and UAE Team Emirates pair of Dan Martin and Tadej Pogačar, the group leading by more than 20 seconds over the top. 

German, Buchmann closed to within 10 seconds on the descent, but with no help from his fellow chasers, he was unable to get on terms, eventually sitting up and waiting for team-mates.

As the race entered its final 50km his deficit edged over one minute, and Buchmann’s overall lead was wiped out, with Izagirre topping the virtual overall classification.

Fuglsang worked hard for his team-mate on the penultimate climb, and when Buchmann lost his team-mates his deficit on the leading five extended to around 1-50, despite the German receiving some help from Movistar.

Martin's late attack was designed as an overall race winning move, he was little more than 30 seconds behind Izagirre, but was unable to hold on as the Basque rider was forced to close the gap alone.

Astana have had a hugely successful season to date, their Basque win being the 22nd success of the season and their eighth stage race victory. 

Bora-Hansgrohe on the other hand would have been hoping to taste stage race overall success in the Basque Country themselves. They won four of the six stages and led the general classification after all but the final stage.

Result

Tour of the Basque Country 2019, stage six: Eibar to Eibar (118.2km)

1. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, in 2-59-46

2. Dan Martin (Ire) UAE Team Emirates, at 1 sec

3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana

4. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Astana, all at same time

5. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates. at 27 sec

6. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-24

7. Mikel Landa (Esp) Movistar, at same time

8. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First, at 1-29

9. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-36

10. Lucas Hamilton (Aus), at same time

Final general classification

1. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Astana, in 19-24-09

2. Dan Martin (Ire) UAE Team Emirates, at 29 sec

3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, at 36 sec

4. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 43 sec

5. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 51 sec

6. Tadel Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-56

7. Mikel Landa (Esp) Movistar, at 2-56

8. Mikel Nieve (Esp) Mitchelton-Scott, at 3-25

9. Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, at 4-27

10. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First, at 5-30

Here we have the Merida Scultura of Ion Izagirre - pro rider for Bahrain-Merida - which he used at Paris-Nice.

The Scultura is Merida's lightweight climbing bike, but also at his disposal would have been the Merida Reacto, the brand's aero bike. He'll have been able to choose between the two depending on the stage profile.

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It's a bit of a franken-bike drivechain-wise, with Bahrain-Merida running a mish-mash of Shimano components. It has paired new Dura-Ace Di2 front and rear mechs with old Dura-Ace chainrings. We've seen a couple of teams doing this, and it's down to power meter compatibility – SRM don't currently have a built in power meter.

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Instead, Bahrain-Merida are running a SRM crank with a speed sensor on the front fork. All of the stats will be relayed to an SRM head unit as shown in the video.

As with many bikes, the Di2 junction box is snug underneath the bars and stem while their are sprint shifters on the drops, giving him easy access if it came down to a sprint.

Elsewhere, Ion Izagirre is using Fulcrum's 40T wheels, giving a speed and aero advantage thanks to their moderately deep sections. The tyres are Continental's Competition Pro Ltd, a staple of the pro peloton.

The bars and stem are made up of FSA's finishing kit, as is the seat post. He's using a Prologo Nago Evo saddle which comes with grippy bits to help stick him in his riding position.

There are so neat little details, too. For example, his name is on both the seat tubes and stuck on his top tube are a list of feed stations and important climbs.

The Tour de France classification stars seemingly called a truce over the final climb of this year's race due to the treacherous conditions on the roads to Morzine and the strength of Sky, team of race leader Chris Froome.

Rain fell for much of the second half of the final mountain stage, spoiling any party on the Joux Plane climb and descent.

The big change came off the back, when Fabio Aru (Astana) cracked and slipped from sixth to 13th. Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) also moved up, from 11th to seventh thanks to a late attack.

"Coming off the descents, everyone was frozen solid," said Richie Porte (BMC). "I think everyone got to the bottom of the Joux Plane absolutely frozen.

"The Joux Plane is not an easy climb and Sky rode a solid pace, it was quite hard to do anything from that. Geraint Thomas had a pace there that was absolutely impossible to attack off."

On stage 19, many stars from Froome to Porte crashed on the wet and slippery stage to Le Bettex under Mont Blanc. The late crash and chase appeared to cost Porte, and on Saturday, he stayed safe.

"Every descent we did today was just dangerous and slippery, I don't think anyone wanted to risk it. There was a lot to lose. Sky had it all under control anyhow," he said.

Tour de France stage 20 highlights

Sky took control over the Joux Plane and Col de la Ramaz with Thomas, Wout Poels, Sergio Henao, Mikel Landa and Mikel Nieve. They left no space for a move like the one on stage 19 from Romain Bardet, who attacked for the stage victory and second place overall.

"On the Col de la Ramaz, we saw that Froome was not [going] very well, but we quickly realised he was okay physically and that it would be difficult to attack," Bardet's team-mate Alexis Vuillermoz said. "So we opted for a defensive strategy and decided to secure the second spot."

"Sky was setting a high tempo, and it was too dangerous to attack on the descent," added Alejandro Valverde, Movistar team-mate of Nairo Quintana in third overall.

"At the end of a long Tour, everyone is tired. No one wanted to take risks."

"It's the end of three weeks, everyone's pretty tired," said Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange), who holds fourth place. "If you attack, it might not work and you waste everything."

Sky, who secured its fourth Tour title and third with Froome, was pleased with the situation.

"We expected people to attack today in the final," Mikel Nieve said. "Nobody did because we [Sky] were much better than we expected today."

Froome rode safely down to Morzine with a 4-05-minute lead over Bardet, which he should keep when the race finishes in Paris tomorrow.

"It was quite a dangerous descent," Froome said. "I don't think anyone wanted to take risks. We saw what happened yesterday, there were crashes everywhere, that was on everyone's mind."

Barring disaster on the final stage, Chris Froome (Team Sky) will once again be crowned Tour de France champion as the penultimate stage to Morzine turned into a damp squib.

Froome's huge advantage over his nearest rivals meant challenging for the win on the rain-soaked roads was virtually impossible, with no GC contenders even attempting an attack on the day's final climb.

Movistar's Ion Izagirre became the first Spanish winner on this year's Tour, with his teammate Nairo Quintana sealing third place overall. Romain Bardet will stand on the second step of the podium if all goes to plan on Sunday.

Rain lashed the riders for much of the day as Astana rattled along at the head of the peloton for the second day running, despite having Vincenzo Nibali up the road in the breakaway. The presence of Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff) in the break was a danger to Fabio Aru's high placing in the general classification, but Nibali was often driving the pace higher.

Aru cracked on the lower slopes of the Col de Joux Plane, giving Nibali a licence to attack the two riders off the front of the breakaway - Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step), who went away on the descent of the Col de la Ramaz.

With Nibali on the chase, Alaphilippe attacked again to try and distance Pantano with 5.5km to go on the climb, but the Colombian wasn't prepared to give up that easily.

Joaquim Rodriguez attacked off the peloton to try and rise up into the top 10 of the general classification, while at the front of the race Nibali was closing on the front pair.

Pantano looked cooked from two attacks by Alaphilippe, but the winner of stage 15 zoomed straight past the Etixx-Quick Step youngster to try and hold off Nibali a bit longer.

But the Shark of Messina made the bridge and drove the pace at the front with a struggling Pantano and Alaphilippe unable to hold his wheel.

Izagirre moved up to Pantano and Alaphilippe and attacked straight past them; only the Colombian was able to stay wit him as he charged down Nibali.

All the excitement was up the road, with Team Sky resuming their normal position at the head of the peloton, with Froome's GC rivals.

The three riders at the head of the race crested the Joux Plane and the ramp up to the Col du Ranfolly before starting the wet descent to Morzine.

Pantano was the first to make a mistake, taking a corner wide and unclipping a foot and slowing down Nibali, allowing Izagirre to speed off the front.

While the lead trio were taking huge risks, Froome and co gingerly rounded each corner of the descent to limit the risk of devastating crashes.

Izagirre crossed the line to claim the stage win, but behind there was nothing to get excited about and Quinana battled it out to save their places in the general classification.

Aru's struggles saw him drop out of the top 10 altogether, finishing 17 minutes behind the stage winner. Bauke Mollema was another person to lose position again, with Kreuziger taking his place in 10th.

Sunday's traditional procession will see the riders make their way from Chantilly to Paris for the sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées.

Tour de France stage 20, Megeve - Morzine (146km)

1. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, 4-06-45

2. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling, at 19s

3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, at 42s

4. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx-Quick Step, at 49s

5. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida, at 1-43

6. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff, at 1-44

7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 2-30

8. Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, at 3-24

9. Dan Martin (Irl) Etixx-Quick Step, at 4-12

10. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, st

Overall standings after stage 20

1. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, 86-21-40

2. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 4-05

3. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, at 4-21

4. Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-BikeExchange, at 4-42

5. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC, at 5-17

6. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 6-16

7. Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, at 6-58

8. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre-Merida, st

9. Dan Martin (Irl) Etixx-Quick Step, at 7-04

10. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff, at 7-11

Ion Izagirre (Movistar) took the first leader's jersey at the Tour de Romandie, winning a wet and cold prologue in La Chaux-de-Fonds by six seconds from Tom Dumoulin.

With many riders opting for a road bike over a time trial bike on the wet, undulating roads there were some surprising times recorded by the pre-stage favourites.

Izagirre completed the 3.95km course in 5-33 having trailed Lotto-Soudal's Louis Vervaecke by just a second at the halfway mark.

Dumoulin trailed in six seconds slower than the Spaniard's time with Team Sky duo Michal Kwiatkowski and Geraint Thomas recording the same time to finish third and fourth.

Show us your Scars: Geraint Thomas

General classification favourite Chris Froome was 26 seconds down on Izagirre, 10 seconds slower than rival Nairo Quintana. Tejay van Garderen is perhaps the best placed of the GC riders, finishing 11 seconds down.

One of the pre-stage favourites, Bob Jungels finished 24 seconds behind Izagirre on the technical course, made even tougher by the snowy conditions.

Orica-GreenEdge's Michael Albasini fell on a sharp downhill corner, but recovered to finish 36 seconds down.

Tour de Romandie prologue, La Chaux-de-Fonds (3.95km ITT)

1. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, 5-33

2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, at 6s

3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 7s

4. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, st

5. Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, at 8s

6. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale, at 9s

7. Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling, at 11s

8. Louis Vervaecke (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, st

9. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC, st

10. Martijn Keizer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 12s