Itzulia Basque Country: Pello Bilbao wins hilly stage 3

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Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) took the victory on stage 3 of Itzulia Basque Country, edging out Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) by half a wheel length on the uphill drag to the line in Amurrio.

The Basque rider triumphed just 50km from his hometown of Gernika following an attacking display in the closing kilometres of the hilly 181.7km stage. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) rounded out the podium to grab a four-second time bonus.

After Ineos Grenadiers and Adam Yates had split the peloton apart with attacks on the Ozeka climb 23km from the line, it was Bilbao who tried several times on two unclassified climbs before the line.

Despite his moves, and various others, the elite group of GC men in the lead group after Ozeka went to the line together. In a carbon copy of stage 2, Remco Evenepoel lead Alaphilippe out, but the Frenchman didn't quite have enough to hold on for a second win in two days as Bilbao pipped him at the line.

After the late attacks and numerous climbs – both classified and not – of the finale, there was little change at the top of the GC. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) retained the race lead with his teammate Jonas Vingegaard working to hold attacks in check on the run-in.

Evenepoel remains in second at five seconds, while Vlasov moved up to within 14 seconds of Roglič. GC losers included UAE Team Emirates' Marc Soler (33 seconds down), Bora-Hansgrohe's Emanuel Buchmann (2:20 down), and Israel-Premier Tech's Michael Woods (2:25 down).

A late puncture by Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) disrupted his finale, though he would be credit with the same time as the leaders due to the 3km rule.

How it unfolded

The third stage of the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country was the toughest yet, taking in five classified climbs and many more besides as the peloton traversed 181.7km from Laudio to Amurrio.

Climbing right from the start saw the riders tackle the Altube climb (4.5km at 5.7 per cent) after 22km before further unclassified tests and a spell atop the plateau to follow. Attacks flew in those early stages as riders tried to establish a breakaway, though it wasn't until the 40km mark when a move went.

Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), who had been among the earlier moves, led the way with the Slovenian joined by Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) and Cristián Rodríguez (TotalEnergies).

Asier Etxeberria (Euskaltel-Euskadi) tried to bridge across but couldn't make it. He was reabsorbed by the peloton after 50km. Up front, meanwhile, the breakaway trio held a solid gap of three minutes on the peloton.

The first major flashpoints of the day came after the 112km mark, when the riders hit the short but steep Opellora climb (1.1km at 13.1 per cent), followed quickly after by Ozeka (3.7km at 7.1 per cent).

There it was Ineos Grenadiers who led the pacemaking with Geraint Thomas, the team cutting a minute from the break's lead up the brutal slopes as Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) was among the notable strugglers at the back.

With Houle dropping on Opellora, Rodríguez sensed a chance to go it alone on Ozeka, dropping Polanc for good and adding six KOM points to the two he grabbed on Opellora. The peloton chased at 1:30 down but calmed their speed in the valley, giving the Spaniard up to four minutes during the long circle round before the ride back to Opellora and Ozeka for a second time.

Rodríguez carried three minutes onto Opellora, in a near-mirror to the situation the first time up the climb. At the top he grabbed another three points as Thomas, Adam Yates, Dani Martínez, and Tao Geoghegn Hart led the peloton for Ineos.

The Spaniard started Ozeka 1:30 up on the peloton, which saw Thomas end his long stint of work shortly after the beginning of the hill. After a run on the front from Geoghegan Hart, Yates upped the pace with a jump midway up the climb.

That move shattered what was left of the peloton, leaving an elite group of 11 GC men at the head of the race behind Rodríguez. After the top, there was little motivation for the various GC leaders to push on with few teammates among them.
The stalemate allowed a few more riders, including 2019 winner Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) catch back on, while moves from Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) not able to create any separation on the way down into the valley.

With the second group on the road at a minute down, it was clear that the lead group would stick it out to the finish. Several more attacks came at the front as the riders neared the 10km mark, but the terrain was hardly favourable for solo moves.
The unclassified hill of Lezama, 5.5km from the line, was, though. There, Bilbao made his move, taking Enric Mas (Movistar) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) with him as the gradients hit 9.8 per cent.

That trio didn't get any meaningful separation over the top, though, as a regrouping came just after the top, with only breakaway man Rodríguez missing. Back in the group, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl duo Evenepoel and Alaphilippe announced their plan of attack in front of the TV camera and mic.

Sure enough, what they said came to fruition as Evenepoel pulled at the head of the group for the final 1500 metres of the stage. He pulled off just before the final left-turn onto the finishing straight, leaving Alaphilippe to finish the job on the uphill drag.

The world champion looked all set to win once again in similar circumstances to Tuesday, though he would be denied by Bilbao at the line as the 32-year-old sped to the 12th win of his career and first at his home race.