Tour of the Basque Country 2019 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

April 11, 2019

Tour of the Basque Country 2019 – Stage 4 – Vitoria-Gasteiz – Arrigorriaga : 163,6 km

The Tour of the Basque Country (Spanish: Vuelta al País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of 37 races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is a mountainous area, there are few flat stages, and thus the event favors those who are strong climbers. Most ascents in the Tour are not particularly high by professional cycling standards, but are often quite steep.

Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) secured a third stage victory and retained his overall lead at the Tour of the Basque Country in Arrigorriaga on Thursday. The German all-rounder was part of a late-race breakaway of four, ignited by Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) over the final Zaratoma climb, and then sprinted to the stage 4 win ahead of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana). Yates finished fourth.

The four-kilometre climb over Zaratoma had a max grade of 11 per cent and peaked with just five kilometres to the finish line. Mitchelton-Scott led the reduced peloton up the climb, setting up Yates for a searing attack over the top. He cleared the field but was joined by Schachmann, Fuglsang and Pogacar on the wet-and-twisty descent.

Once onto the city streets of Arrigorriaga, Pogacar made the first attack, but Schachmann was quick to respond and connected with his back wheel. Pogacar continued to lead the breakaway into the final 200 metres until Schachmann pulled up beside him and then sprinted for the stage win.

Fuglsang and Yates were no match in the breakaway sprint and finished one second behind in third and fourth place, respectively.

Schachmann, who also won stages 1 and 3, now leads the overall classification by 51 seconds over teammate Patrick Konrad and an additional second to third-placed Ion Izagirre (Astana).

How it unfolded

The fourth stage of Tour of the Basque Country was a tough one with four categorised climbs: category 3 Campa Hafade (55km), category 3 Garate (90km), category 1 Bikotz (120km) and then a category 3 climb over Zaratoma that peaked with just five kilometres from the finish line in Arrigorriaga.

A breakaway of seven hit out early over the first ascent.n the move were Carlos Verona (Movistar), Stephen Williams (Bahrain-Merida), Maxime Monfort (Lotto-Soudal), Tsgabu Grmay (Mitchelton-Scott), Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team), Michael Storer (Team Sunweb) and Mikel Iturria (Euskadi-Murias).

Bora-Hansgrohe, with overall leader Schachmann, held the gap at under three minutes.

As the rain came down, the roads became slick, and there were several crashes among the main field that included Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), who was forced to abandon. Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb), Ricardo Vilela (Burgos-BH), Daan Olivier (Jumbo-Visma) and Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Caja Rural) also crashed, and they all had to pull out of the race with unknown injuries.

As the breakaway approached the second climb of the day over Garate, only 1.5km but with a max grade of 10 per cent, their gap came down to 2:30 and then slashed by another 30 seconds with 45km to go.

The category 1 climb over Bikotez Gane loomed ahead at 4.9km long with an average gradient of 8.6 per cent and maximum ramps of 13 per cent. Bora-Hansgrohe, along with teams Jumbo, Movistar, Astana led the way up the climb, cutting the gap to the breakaway down to a minute.

Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) was the first to attack, but Mitchelton-Scott took over the pace-setting at the front of the field and pulled him back in over the top. They also caught the remnants of the original breakaway who had fallen of pace as the roads got steeper.

Up in the breakaway, De Marchi and Verona were the last two riders to hold a 45-second lead but they, too, were caught with 13km to go.

Mitchelton-Scott continued to set the pace heading into the final climb over Zaratoma, and teams Katusha-Alpecin, Astana and FDJ moved forward. Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko slipped out through a slippery corner and crashed, as did several other riders, but the main group hit the final climb together.

An untimely puncture derailed Adam Yates’ GC hopes on stage 2, but the team still worked hard to set him up for a chance at the stage victory. Yates made his move near the top of Zaratoma, but Schachmann and then Pogacar and Fuglsang followed, and the four men continued to launch individual attacks down the descent an into Arrigorriaga.

Pogacar jumped first and led the breakaway into the final straight, but Schachmann gave him no leeway. The German launched his sprint off of Pogacar’s wheel inside the final 150 metres, and the two riders drag raced to the line with Schachmann taking the win.

Results :
1 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:03:45
2 Tadej Pogaar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:04
3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:07
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:11
5 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:00:19
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
9 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
11 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
12 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
13 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
14 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First
15 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
16 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates
17 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep
18 Daniel Martínez (Col) EF Education First
19 Carlos Julian Quintero Noreña (Col) Manzana Postobon
20 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
21 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
22 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
23 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
24 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky
25 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
26 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:30
27 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:35
28 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Rubén Fernández (Spa) Movistar Team
30 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:43
31 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) Team Dimension Data
32 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:49
33 Luis Ángel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 0:00:56
34 Óscar Rodríguez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
35 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:57
36 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
37 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
38 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
39 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
40 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:01:00
41 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:10
42 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
44 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
45 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
46 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
47 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:15
48 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
49 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:25
50 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
51 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
52 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
53 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:55
54 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:04
55 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Aldemar Reyes Ortega (Col) Manzana Postobon
58 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:02:21
59 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:03:20
60 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
61 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
63 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
64 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
65 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:28
66 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:34
67 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:03:51
68 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:04
69 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:46
70 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
71 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
72 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
73 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
74 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:22
75 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:43
76 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
77 Gregor Mülberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
78 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:10
79 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:07:21
80 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:26
81 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
83 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
84 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
85 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First
86 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
87 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
88 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
89 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
90 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
91 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
92 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:08:29
93 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
94 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:09:15
95 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
96 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
97 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:28
98 Nicolas Saenz Ballesteros (Col) Manzana Postobon
99 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
100 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
101 Jesús Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
102 Aurélien Paret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
103 Jhonjan Orlando García (Col) Manzana Postobon
104 Yecid Arturo Sierra Sanchez (Col) Manzana Postobon
105 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:12:25
106 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:12:40
107 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:13:03
108 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
109 Bernardo Albeiro Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon
110 Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Dimension Data
111 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
112 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
113 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
114 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
115 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
116 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
117 Alexander Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
118 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
119 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
120 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
121 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
122 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
123 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:11
124 Gari Bravo (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
125 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:13:16
126 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
127 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:13:18
128 Jesús Ezquerra (Spa) Burgos-BH
129 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
130 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
131 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
132 Fernando Barceló (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
133 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
134 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
135 Nicolas Sessler (Bra) Burgos-BH
136 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
137 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
138 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
139 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:14:54
140 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain-Merida 0:17:26

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 12:38:26
2 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:42
3 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Daniel Martínez (Col) EF Education First 0:00:57
5 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:58
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:00
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:18
8 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:20
9 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:25
10 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:31
11 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:01:39
12 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
13 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:42
14 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:46
15 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:49
16 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) Team Dimension Data 0:01:55
17 Tadej Pogaar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:57
18 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:58
19 Carlos Julian Quintero Noreña (Col) Manzana Postobon
20 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:02:03
21 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 0:02:08
22 Rubén Fernández (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:09
23 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:02:11
24 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:20
25 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:28
26 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:30
27 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:35
28 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
29 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team 0:02:45
30 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:02:56
31 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky 0:02:57
32 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
33 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:03:12
34 Óscar Rodríguez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:03:23
35 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:35
36 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:45
37 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:03:47
38 Aldemar Reyes Ortega (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:04:09
39 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:26
40 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:37
41 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:58
42 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:05:24
43 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:40
44 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:43
45 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:27
46 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:06:42
47 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:06:50
48 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:06:58
49 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:07:43
50 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:07:51
51 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:08:20
52 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:09:49
53 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:09:59
54 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:10:00
55 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:10:01
56 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 0:11:06
57 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:11:12
58 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:20
59 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:39
60 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:42
61 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:12:48
62 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:13:57
63 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:32
64 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
65 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:58
66 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:16
67 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:15:25
68 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:15:30
69 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:15:37
70 Luis Ángel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 0:15:47
71 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:28
72 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:16:30
73 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data 0:17:01
74 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:18:03
75 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin 0:18:23
76 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:18:45
77 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:18:46
78 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:18:48
79 Alexander Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:19:03
80 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:42
81 Aurélien Paret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:20:29
82 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:20:56
83 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:21:26
84 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:21:47
85 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:21:48
86 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:22:16
87 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:23:09
88 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:23:15
89 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team 0:23:17
90 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:23:19
91 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:23:44
92 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:23:49
93 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:23:55
94 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team 0:23:58
95 Gregor Mülberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:24:18
96 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:24:21
97 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:24:34
98 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:24:36
99 Jhonjan Orlando García (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:25:06
100 Fernando Barceló (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias 0:25:11
101 Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Dimension Data 0:25:12
102 Jesús Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 0:25:14
103 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:25:15
104 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:25:28
105 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First 0:25:38
106 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:25:42
107 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:25:53
108 Nicolas Saenz Ballesteros (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:26:20
109 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:26:44
110 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:27:04
111 Gari Bravo (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias 0:27:24
112 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team 0:27:37
113 Yecid Arturo Sierra Sanchez (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:28:15
114 Bernardo Albeiro Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:28:22
115 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:28:30
116 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:28:40
117 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:29:11
118 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:29:13
119 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:30:01
120 Jesús Ezquerra (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:30:03
121 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
122 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:30:27
123 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:30:41
124 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky 0:31:11
125 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:31:27
126 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:31:33
127 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:31:36
128 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:31:59
129 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:32:13
130 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:32:22
131 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
132 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:32:59
133 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:33:12
134 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First 0:33:35
135 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:34:09
136 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida 0:34:16
137 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team 0:34:18
138 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates 0:34:36
139 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain-Merida 0:35:23
140 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:35:53
141 Nicolas Sessler (Bra) Burgos-BH 0:37:48