At it happened: Action-packed queen stage of the Itzulia Basque Country decided by two-up sprint
Eight classified climbs and 3,800 metres of ascent pack the queen stage of the race in Eibar
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Itzulia Basque Country 2026 Route
Race Report
Hello and welcome to stage five of Itzulia Basque Country!
This is the day that the organisers have deemed the Queen Stage of the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country, and it’s easy to see why. In total there are eight classified climbs, and a total of 3,814m elevation gain, including two particularly steep category one climbs in the second half of the stage.
Based on the way this race has gone so far, it’s the kind of parcours that makes Paul Seixas hot favourite for the stage win. He’s been in a league of his own so far this race on the climbs, and even gained time yesterday on the descent, and if this stage is to be as selective as it looks, it’s hard to see how anybody can beat him in a mano y mano fight.
Of course, there is one obvious way Seixas can be beaten - by riders in the break. There was huge interest in getting into the break yesterday, with the battle raging for hours and a massive group of over 30 eventually getting clear, and we should expect something similar today. Whether or not the catch is made may well depend on Seixas’ appetite for another stage win.
The scene at the start today in Eibar, during the team presentation.
There was a lot to unpack from yesterday's hectic stage. Have a read of our report for the full lowdown.
Paul Seixas in yellow with his Decathlon CMA CGM team at the start today.
The riders are making their way though the neutralised zone as we speak.
The winner of stage three, Axel Laurance, has not made it to the start this morning. He's pulled out of the race.
The weather continues to smile on the riders, treating them to blue skies and a temperature of over 20 degrees.
The scene at the start.
If yesterday's stage is anything to go by, this will be a long, competitive battle to form the day's break.
Baptiste Veistroffer, who was very busy during the first phase of yesterday's stage, is the first to get a small gap today.
Sinuhé Fernández is in pursuit of Veistroffer.
The first 10km of this stage are flat, but then the climbing starts with the category three Elkorrieta, and barely relented for the remainder of the day.
Veistroffer has a lead of a minute over the peloton already, and 30 seconds over the chaser Fernández. That will likely change as they start climbing in a few kilometres.
Reuben Thompson also attacks out of the peloton, and is now third on the road.
The peloton were treated to the unusual spectacle of a local traditional ‘Aurresku’ performance before the start of the stage today.
Both Fernández and Thompson have been caught, but Veistroffer remains out there alone.
Baptiste Veistroffer, leading the race
It’s been a subdued start so far, but that should be about to change as they ride a short plateau to the foot of the first category one climb of the day, the 5.7km Azurki, which averages a tough 7.7%.
One rider missing today is Juan Ayuso, who abandoned the race yesterday. He later confirmed that he had been suffering from stomach problems.
After a flying start to life at Lidl-Trek with overall victory at Volta ao Algarve, Itzulia Basque Country follows Paris-Nice as the second consecutive stage race the Spaniard has pulled out of. That attracted criticism in some quarters, but his lead defended the decision as the right move to look after his fitness ahead of the coming Ardennes Classics.
It's all change in the race, as Veistroffer has been joined by a group of riders.
It's a large group that's caught Veistroffer, of over 30 riders it seems.
Some of the most eye-catching names in the breakaway group include - Ben Healy, Marc Soler, Fortunato, Scaroni, Martin and yesterday’s winner Aranburu.
In fact, this group consists of many of the men who were most prominent in yesterday's break. We'll bring a full list to you shortly.
Of the riders in the break, it seems that Guillaume Martin is the highest on GC in 16th at 4:38.
The break's grown their lead more, to over four minutes. It's going to be a big challenge for the peloton to bring them back.
Here is the 27-man break in full:
Guillaume Martin, Clément Braz Afonso, Quentin Pacher (all Groupama-FDJ United), Steven Kruijswijk, Tijmen Graat, Menno Huising (all Visma-Lease a Bike), Marc Soler, Adrià Pericas (both UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Lorenzo Fortunato, Christian Scaroni (both XDS Astana), Mauri Vansevenant, Steff Cras (both Soudal-QuickStep), Ben Healy, Markel Beloki (EF Education-EasyPost), Juan Pedro López, Raúl García Pierna (both Movistar), Mattia Gaffuri, Juan Guillermo Martinez (both Picnic-PostNL), Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Haimar Etxeberria (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility), Ibon Ruiz (Equipo Kern Pharma), Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
Those riders are about to take on the third climb of the day, the Etumeta (4.7km at 7.1%).
As for the teams that missed the move, Bahrain Victorious are notable by their absence. They missed the move yesterday as well, and spent much of the day chasing to try to bring that day’s break - to no avail. To do so twice in two days feels complacent.
There are also no Lidl-Trek riders in the group. You thought they might target breakaways now that Ayuso is out for good, but they do have a GC contender to defend in Skjelmose, who is fifth on GC.
Some riders in the break aren’t content with the group being this big. They’ve attacked on the lower slopes of the climb.
Aranburu, Fortunato, López, García Pierna, Beloki and Ruiz have gone clear and opened up a little gap over the rest.
KOM - ETUMETA
Aranburu, Fortunato, López, García Pierna, Beloki and Ruiz crest the top of the climb together, ahead of the chasing group.
Steven Kruijswijk has bridged up to the 6 leaders.
Yesterday's winner Aranburu, in the break once again today.
The group of seven that had gone clear are now back in the peloton - apart from Kruijswijk, who now leads the race by himself.
The breakaway group up the road.
It seems there are a few riders we missed from the run-down of everyone in the break - including the indefatigable Baptiste Veistroffer, who has attacked out of it in pursuit of Kruijswijk.
Michael Leonard and Anders Halland Johannessen are both also present in the large chasing group.
Kruijswijk has company at the front of the race - he's just been joined by Veistroffer.
The chasing group is someway behind, too, at 1:45.
The chase group.
The riders are approaching the latest climb on the menu, the Alto de Kalbario. At 2.4km long it's one of the easier ones tackled today, but has a steep average of 7.5%.
Kruijswijk and Veistroffer continue to grow their lead, which is now two minutes on the chasers, and although the peloton has clawed a little back on them, bringing them to 4:30.
Once again its Bahrain Victorious who are setting the pace in the peloton, doing the work having missed the break again.
The chase have got their act together some more, and are bringing the gap down again. It’s down from two minutes to just over one minute.
There's been a split in the chase group, with about 10 clipping clear from the rest.
This is an important phase of the race, as the hardest climb of the day is just 5km away.
The split that opened up in the chase group has been closed again, and they're all back together.
Paul Seixas in the yellow jersey, surrounded by his Decathlon teammates.
Bahrain Victorious are motoring at the front of the peloton. They're less than a minute away from the chasers.
The road ramps up, as the leading duo hit the climb!
Veistroffer has one clear of Kruijswijk.
In the chase behind, Uno-X is setting the pace.
And in the peloton, it's Decathlon who are setting the pace. This could be a sign that Seixas is hungry for yet another stage win.
Kruijswijk and Veistroffer together, before the latter went clear on the climb.
Seixas has grabbed onto his wheel, but everyone else is gapped for now.
The chasing group is breaking up, and Lipowitz and Seixas are catching some of them.
It seems there's only one group of four ahead of Seixas and Lipowitz.
Kévin Vauquelin attacks out of that front group, and now leads alone.
Veistroffer must have been caught earlier.
Seixas has teammate Prodhomme with him, and he's setting the pace.
There are a few more riders with the Decathlon duo - Lipowitz, Soler, Healy, Baudin, Leonard, Aranburu and Ruiz.
Vauquelin is 20 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group.
Baudin also managed to break out of the peloton to join the yellow jersey group, so there are three men in the GC top ten present in it.
Fortunato and Scaroni join the yellow jersey chase group, as they begin the descent.
Soler has attaced the chase group on the descent.
This chase group has gotten bigger on the descent - there are now 19 riders in it.
Bilbao also made it into that group, and has attacked out of it to join Soler.
Lipowitz attacking on the climb earlier, unable to drop Seixas.
Vauquelin has been caught by the 11-man chase group, which features Seixas and Lipowitz.
Almost immediately after the catch is made, Lipowitz attacks. Seixas is alert and on his wheel, though, along with a teammate.
Soler tries another attack out of this group, as they reach the bottom of the descent.
GC riders Roglič and Izagirre have made it into this yellow jersey group, but missing are the men who were 5th and 6th on GC, Skjelmose and Tulett.
Prodhomme is setting the pace in this group, as Seixas sole Decathlon teammate present.
Now Aranburu takes over, working for Cofidis teammate Izagirre.
Soler has been caught and is back in the yellow jersey group.
This lead group has grown some more - and Roglič has managed to make his way back on into it.
This lead group is a mixture of GC riders like Seixas, Lipowitz, Roglič and Izagirre, plus some who were in the original day’s break, like Vauquelin, Healy, Scaroni and Soler.
Soler attacks, yet again, and this time has Healy go with him.
A group containing Skjelmose and Tulett have been well distenced. They're over two minutes behind the yellow jersey, and are set to tumble down the GC rankings.
The riders are climbing up the latest climb, the 3.4km, 6.8% Trabakua.
Soler and Healy going well, increasing their lead to 30 seconds.
There have been many KOM points awarded today over the many different summits. Here’s what the virtual classification looks like as a result:
2 Anders Johannessen 19
3 Seixas 19
4 Soler 15
5 Arrieta 13
6 Vauquelin 11
7 Tobias Johannessen 10
The upcoming kilometres are rolling, with various steep ramps, before they arrive at the foot of the day’s penultimate climb, Alto de Izua (3.6km at 9.9%).
There are 20 or so riders in the yellow jersey group, including all of the GC top ten apart from Skjelmose and Tulett.
Soler and Healy both have big engines and are working well together to preserve their lead of about half a minute, but things are about to get much harder for them.
Prodhomme is leading the chase group. Everyone is awaiting an attack from his team leader Seixas on this climb.
Soler and Healy are on the climb now!
30 seconds behind, the chase group also begin the climb, with Prodhomme and Riccitello leading out Seixas.
Healy attacks Soler on the climb, and drops him.
Many of the riders from the original break are being dropped out of the chase group.
Soler has been caught by the chasers.
Prodhomme and Riccitello are done, leaving Seixas to set the pace at the front himself.
Seixas is thinning the group out, and catches Healy.
Lipowitz, Roglic and Izagirre are the only riders left with Seixas!
Roglič is looking confidant, and does a brief turn before Seixas takes over again.
Lipowitz attacks, but Seixas follows!
Those two have gone clear form the rest.
Seixas does a tentative dig, but Lipowitz is equal to it.
Roglič has dropped Izagirre and is bridging up to the two leaders.
With Roglič chasing, Lipowitz is staying glued to Seixas' wheel without taking a turn.
Roglič is eight seconds beind the leading duo.
1km from the summit, Seixas continues to do all the work, with Lipowitz hanging on to his wheel and Roglič not making any inroads.
Javier Romo has emerged from behind to latch onto the wheel of Primož Roglič.
Romo is on a blinder! He's about to catch the leadind duo.
Romo crashed just as he made the catch touching wheel with Lipowitz ahead of him!
Romo got himself back up quickly and was third to the top, with Roglič fourth.
Romo has got himself back to just 10 seconds behind the two leaders.
20KM TO GO
The two leaders have 10 seconds on Romo, and about 30 seconds on another chase group featuring Baudin and Izagirre, with Roglič somewhere in between.
They’re descending to the foot of the final climb, Urkaregi. This one’s a lot gentler than the previous one, averaging just 4.3% for 5.3km. If Lipowitz could stick to Seixas on the 10% slopes of the previous climb, he should be able to do so on this one too.
Roglič is about to catch Romo.
There are 8 riders in the chase behind - Tejada, Champoussin, Baudin, Izagirre, Bilbao, Vauquelin, Tobias Johannessen and Uijtdebroeks.
Seixas and Lipowitz are have begun the final climb, 25 seconds up on Roglič and Romo, and 48 seconds up on the 8-man chase.
Baudin attacks out of that chase group, but can't go clear.
Still Seixas, yet still Lipowitz sticks to his wheel. The Frenchman has looked a little more human than in previous stages.
Now Lipowitz comes through to take a turn for Seixas .
Roglič and Romo are still 30 seconds behind, while the chase group behind is drifting further back on this climb, to 55 seconds.
The leading duo are 1km from the summit.
Lipowitz is no longer taking any turns, as they near the summit.
The chasing duo reach the top 37 seconds later.
Remember tha Seixas dropped most of the peloton, including Lipowitz, on a descent yesterday.
By taking the points, Seixas also leads the virtual montains classification now. At this rate, he could be on the podium for all four jerseys this evening.
10KM TO GO
As they near the finish, Seixas and Lipowitz lead Roglič and Romo by about 40 seconds, and the following group by about 50 seconds.
Tobias Halland Johannessen had to break at one of the corners of this descent, and has been dropped from the chase group as a result.
Seixas is throwing himself down this descent, but Lipowitz is sticking to his wheel.
The leading duo reach the bottom of the descent, and now begin a draggy final 6km to the finish line.
Seixas looks for Lipowitz to take a turn, and the German duly obliges.
If they keep working like this, they should make it to the finish together.
Behind, Roglič and Romo have been caught by the chase group.
Normally you’d back Seixas in a two-up sprint, but will Lipowitz be the fresher man having sat on his wheel for so much?
Lipowitz is taking a turn now though, as they near the final 2km.
There's no impotus in the chase behind. They're now almost a minute down.
Lipowitz leads as the road narrows and accelerates.
Seixas clings to his wheel.
Still Lipowitz leads
Romo has attacked out of the chase group to take a well-deserved 3rd place, about a minute later.
Vauquelin wins the sprint for fourth in the group behind, about ten seconds later.
So that's three stage wins for Paul Seixas at this Itzulia Basque Country. The teenager might have looked more human today, but still Florian Lipowitz could not find a way to beat him.
Lipowitz didn't manage to win the stage, but does rise from third to second on GC. That doesn't do much for his Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team, however, as the man he leapfrogs is teammate Primož Roglič.
Ion Izagirre remains fourth overall, while Baudin, Tejada, Uijtdebroeks, Champoussin, Bilbao and Romo all jump two places each, with Skjelmose and Tulett falling out of the top ten.
The story for much of the stage was Seixas' inability to drop Lipowitz on the final climbs. But it didn't matter in the end, as he managed to beat him in a sprint anyway.
Having not won a World Tour race prior to this week, Paul Seixas now has three in the space of just five days. He looked like a super-talent beforehand, but even more so now.
Remarkably, Seixas now leads all four classifications. This is the kind of dominance we’ve grown used to seeing Tadej Pogačar achieve in recent years.
Perhaps aware that Seixas is the quicker sprinter, Lipowitz tried to catch him out by starting his sprint early. But Seixas managed to stick to his wheel, and had plenty left in the tank to pass him in the final metres.
Here’s what Seixas had to say in his post-victory interview:
"I tried to go all-out in the climb but I was struggling a bit, I don't know why, but I had the feeling that I couldn't go all-in, maybe it was because of the day, of course it was a hard stage today. Then I felt the legs coming back after the downhill.
"With Florian we rode well until the finish, he was really strong today, and also the other guys. Today was a close battle. Chapeau to everyone, it was a really hard day and I'm happy to win for the team."
Thanks for joining us today, for what was yet another Paul Seixas masterclass, and further confirmation of his special talent.
He has one hand on the yellow jersey, but the race isn’t over yet, and there’s a potentially tricky final stage in the offing tomorrow - not just for its parcours, which again includes multiple climbs spread out throughout the day where ambushes could be spring, but also for the weather, with reports that storm might be brewing. We ought to learn more about Seixas’ resilience as a rider - be sure to tune in again to see if he can indeed seal overall victory.
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