Tour of the Basque Country 2018 – Stage 6 [LAST 10 KM]

April 07, 2018

Tour of the Basque Country / Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco 2018 – Stage 6 – Eibar – Arrate : 122,2 km

Wedged between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the Pais Vasco is a key stage race for climbers and general classification riders. The stage race is also a key preparation event for the Ardennes classics with the plethora of short, and punchy ascents across the parcours.

For 2018, the race has attracted another strong start list starting with the home Movistar team. Mikel Landa and Nairo Quintana lead the Spanish squad and will be a formidable duo across the six stages. The Movistar duo aren’t the only contenders though with the likes of Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), the Izagirre brothers on Bahrain-Merida, Richie Porte and Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-Floors), Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Drapac), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin), Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) all set to pin on a race number in the Basque Country.

Enric Mas (Quick-Step-Floors) survived from the early break to win the final stage at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, while Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) returned from a crash, and held off an onslaught from Movistar to seal the overall win.

Mas took his first professional WorldTour win in impressive fashion, leaving his early breakaway companions on the slopes of the final climb, and soloing away to the win. The young Spaniard held off a large charge from Mikel Landa (Movistar), who was threatening to overturn Roglic’s healthy but not impregnable race lead.

In the end, Landa was forced to settle for second on the stage, and second overall, with Roglic winning by 1:09. Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) completed the podium.

The 122.2km stage consisted of eight categorised climbs, and set off at breakneck speed. Roglic, who came into the day with a 1:57 lead over his nearest rival, Landa, suffered the worst possible start with a fall inside the opening five kilometres. A frantic chase ensued with the LottoNL rider shedding all of his teammates on the first two climbs as he tried to regain contact.

When the speed finally settled, and Roglic made contact, a group of 13 riders jumped clear with KOM contender Carlos Verona (Mitchelton-Scott) followed by teammate Lucas Hamilton, Tao Geoghegan Hart (Sky), David Lopez (Sky), Jesper Hansen (Astana), Gregor Mülhberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), Carlos Betancur (Movistar), Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Jose Herrada (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha Alpecin).

The break established a lead of over three minutes with Trek-Segafredo setting the pace. The American team were looking to move Bauke Mollema up the standings, and were given encouragement when fourth placed Julian Alaphillpe began to crack mid-way through the stage.

With three climbs remaining, and Trek still working, the race hit the slopes of the Izua. Landa was the first GC rider to put Rolgic under pressure but the race leader responding automatically, showing that his earlier fall had not harmed him.

At this point a number of the break began to fall back, and as the rain began to fall Movistar began to take control. Roglic, who was without a teammate, was going up against five Movistar riders.

Nairo Quintana put in a huge attack, but once more Roglic rose from the saddle, taking Landa with him. The move was soon caught and on the lower slops of the final climb, Mas, Verona, De Gendt and Mülhberger were all that remained from the break.

Mas and Mülhberger briefly went clear, but it was Mas who made the telling move with 5km to go. The young Spaniard only had a lead of 25 seconds for much of the final climb, and when Landa and Quintana broke away from Roglic with around 4km to go, it looked as though Movistar would decide the stage, and possibly the overall.

However both Mas and Roglic rode their own but very different races. The young Quick-Step rider held a late charge from Landa at bay, while despite losing almost a minute with 2km to go, Roglic fought back to seal his first stage race win of the 2018 season.

Results :
1 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 3:17:22
2 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:18
3 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:35
4 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:39
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:42
6 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:51
7 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:59
8 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:06
9 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
10 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
11 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
12 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:32
13 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:50
14 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:49
15 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:50
16 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
17 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
18 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
19 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:30
20 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:37
21 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:11
22 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:24
23 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
24 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:04:07
25 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:53
26 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:57
27 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:05:01
28 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:11
29 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:23
30 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
31 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:25
32 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
33 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
34 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
35 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:05:54
36 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos BH 0:05:56
37 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
38 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
39 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:27
40 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:33
41 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:44
42 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
43 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
44 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
45 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:07:20
46 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
47 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:25
48 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:07:31
49 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
50 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:53
51 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
52 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:07:55
53 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
54 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
55 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
56 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
57 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:08:02
58 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:08:08
59 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:08:10
60 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos BH
61 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin 0:08:11
62 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:09:02
63 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:09:20
64 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:09:22
65 Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Spa) Burgos BH
66 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
67 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
68 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
69 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
70 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:09:27
71 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:25
72 Igor Merino Kortazar (Spa) Burgos BH 0:10:32
73 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:12
74 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:11:16
75 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:22
76 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:11:38
77 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:14:41
78 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:15:51
79 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:16:29
80 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
81 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:16:32
82 Benjamin King (USA) Dimension Data 0:17:41
83 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 0:17:43
84 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH
85 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:17:52
86 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
87 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
88 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
89 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:56
90 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
91 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
92 Jon Irisarri Rincon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
93 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 0:18:36
94 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:18:40
95 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:18:55
96 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
97 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:21:46
98 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:22:28
99 Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH 0:24:11
DNS Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNS Nelson Andres Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNS Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNS Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNS Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
DNS Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
DNF Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
DNF Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
DNF Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
DNF Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

Final General Classification :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 20:53:47
2 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:09
3 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:42
4 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:14
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:17
6 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:29
7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:50
8 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:04:14
9 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:04:15
10 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:30
11 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:05:34
12 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:29
13 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:08
14 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:07:40
15 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:09:29
16 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:10:21
17 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:50
18 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:55
19 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:13:07
20 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:12
21 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:14:03
22 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:14:12
23 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:14:33
24 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:14:35
25 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:14:43
26 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:15:21
27 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:15:30
28 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:16:05
29 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:16:22
30 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin 0:16:25
31 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:17:24
32 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:17:51
33 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:18:45
34 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos BH 0:18:46
35 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:19:45
36 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:20:12
37 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:58
38 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:22:14
39 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:22:24
40 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:24:36
41 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:24:44
42 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:26:38
43 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:27:17
44 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:27:20
45 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin 0:28:32
46 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:28:48
47 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:29:02
48 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:29:28
49 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:30:23
50 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:30:33
51 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:30:38
52 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:31:10
53 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:31:35
54 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos BH 0:32:20
55 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:32:37
56 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:32:42
57 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:32:46
58 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:32:48
59 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:33:42
60 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:35:01
61 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:35:13
62 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:36:30
63 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:36:42
64 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates 0:36:44
65 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:37:17
66 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:37:33
67 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:37:43
68 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:38:01
69 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH 0:38:18
70 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:39:01
71 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:39:32
72 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky 0:40:18
73 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:41:47
74 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:43:19
75 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:43:42
76 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:47:12
77 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:47:28
78 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:48:20
79 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:48:58
80 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:49:48
81 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:50:23
82 Igor Merino Kortazar (Spa) Burgos BH 0:50:32
83 Benjamin King (USA) Dimension Data 0:51:20
84 Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Spa) Burgos BH 0:51:21
85 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 0:51:35
86 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:55:14
87 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:55:22
88 Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH 0:56:33
89 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:57:27
90 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:57:40
91 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:59:49
92 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 1:00:48
93 Jon Irisarri Rincon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1:02:49
94 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 1:04:32
95 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 1:04:46
96 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:05:00
97 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 1:07:04
98 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:15:59
99 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:16:14