Itzulia Basque Country: McNulty takes lead on stage 4

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Ion Izagirre (Astana-Premier Tech) won stage 4 of the Itzulia Basque Country after a close sprint against Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious).

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) finished third and did enough to move into the race lead after a break of six formed on the final descent of the stage and put time into a group of GC favourites that included Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

After four stages of racing McNulty now leads the race by 23 seconds over Roglič with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) third at 28 seconds.

Izagirre, Bilbao, McNulty, along with Esteban Chaves, Emanuel Buchmann, and Vingegaard formed the winning break after the final climb of the Erlaitz, with Chaves and Bilbao the first to make their move. A combination of strong riding and a lack of cooperation within the chase behind saw the gap move their advantage out to 30 seconds and then almost a minute on the flat run-in.

Buchmann attacked with 1.6km to go but was quickly brought back before Chaves kicked for home with 800m remaining. It looked as though the BikeExchange climber would take the second win of his season but with 200m remaining he was dragged back by Buchmann before Izagirre struck out with a long sprint. Bilbao almost edged the Astana Premier Tech rider on the line but the Bahrain rider just came up short.

How it unfolded

A rapid start, coupled with a long downhill section soon after, ensured that the opening hour of racing was run off at a near breakneck speed. There were several attempts to form a break, with even Roglič and Carapaz jumping free from the peloton but it took a full 110km of racing before a four-man group was eventually allowed to go clear.

Omar Fraile (Astana-Premier Tech) and Jon Barrenetzxea (Caja Rural), and before them Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep) were among those to attack on the first climb of the Deskarga but it was on the next climb of the Alkiza when Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) finally moved clear.

They built a slender lead over a rampant bunch and on the lower slopes of the Jaizkibel. The quartet held just over a minute with Astana and then Bahrain setting a furious pace on the familiar climb. Once again Bauke Mollema found himself going backwards on the early slope as up ahead the break began to attack each other with just under 50km to go. Lopez and O’Connor moved clear and formed a new alliance with the peloton at 1’05 with 45km remaining but the pace from Mikel Landa’s team and then from BikeExchange was enough to bring back Cepeda and Martin before the summit and reduce the remaining riders’ advantage to 38 seconds by the summit with Ineos Grenadiers taking over at the front of the peloton.

UAE Team Emirates took over the descent and the approach towards the final climb of Erlaitz. At the foot of the climb with 26km to go Lopez and O’Connor’s slim margin evaporated with a group of fewer than 50 riders still in contention. Roglič and Pogačar put their remaining teammates on the front. Astana, with Jakob Fuglsang were the first team to try and up the pace but it was Landa who put in the first serious dig with 24.7km to go. Esteban Chaves initially lead the chase but then jumped across to the Spaniard alongside Brian McNulty. With 1.6km to go until the summit, Chaves began to feel the strain, with McNulty, third overall at the start of the stage pushing clear with Landa on his wheel.

Jumbo-Visma’s Vingegaard dragged the pair back just before the summit, but by that point, less than 15 riders were still in contention with 22km to go. Pello Bilbao and Chaves linked up with an attack on the rolling descent with McNulty, Izaguirre, Buchmann, and Vingegaard joining them to make a dangerous group of six. They built up a lead of 26 seconds with a group of 13 that included Roglič and Pogačar leading the chase. Alejandro Valverde took charge of the chase group with 11km to go in a bid to bring the leaders back but as the road briefly flattened out with 10km to go the six upfront had 35 seconds of an advantage. David Gaudu was the next to attack, but the Frenchman was heavily marked. James Knox broke free with 8km to go.

With 5km to go the leading six had 52 seconds with the stop-start nature of the chase allowing them to build on their gap, and when Jumbo-Visma finally began to work it was on the understanding that McNulty had all but secured the race lead for stage 5. The race is now tightly balanced with two stages, including a summit finish on the final day, remaining.