![Tour of the Basque Country 2026 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Tour-of-the-Basque-Country-2026-–-Stage-3-FULL-STAGE.png)
Description
April 8, 2026
65th Itzulia Basque Country 2026 🇪🇸 (2.UWT) ME – Stage 3 – Basauri – Basauri : 152,8 km
Classified as a 2.UWT event by the UCI,
Show more...
April 8, 2026
65th Itzulia Basque Country 2026 🇪🇸 (2.UWT) ME – Stage 3 – Basauri – Basauri : 152,8 km
Classified as a 2.UWT event by the UCI, Itzulia Basque Country is a prestigious multi-day stage race held in the Basque region of northern Spain. It is renowned for its exceptionally demanding terrain, characterized by a relentless series of short, steep climbs and narrow, winding roads that offer no respite for the peloton. Unlike many other stage races, it typically lacks flat transitional stages, favoring versatile climbers and explosive punchers who can handle high-intensity racing in often unpredictable spring weather. The event is celebrated for its passionate local spectators and technical complexity, where tactical positioning and consistent performance across all stages are paramount for securing the general classification. As a significant fixture on the WorldTour calendar, it serves as a definitive test of grit and recovery, rewarding riders who excel in explosive uphill finishes and high-speed descents.
Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) continued his run of success this season with the two-up sprint victory on stage 3 at Itzulia Basque Country.
The Frenchman launched off the wheel of breakaway companion Igor Arrieta (AE Team Emirates-XRG), who started his sprint first but faded in the final metres on the uphill finale, securing his fourth win of the season. Arrieta was forced to settle for second place in Basauri.
The pair were part of a larger 16-rider breakaway that formed mid-race, but they split off the front at the top of the last categorised ascent, Sarasola, with roughly 25km remaining of the 153km race.
Natnael Tesfatsion (Movistar), who was also part of the original breakaway, crossed the line in third place from the chase-group sprint.
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) maintained his overall race lead with 1:59 ahead of Primož Roglič and 2:08 ahead of Florian Lipowitz (both Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
How it unfolded
The peloton raced along a challenging 152.8km route in and around Basauri for the third stage at the Itzulia Basque Country. They climbed three categorised ascents, all in the second half of the race: Barrerilla (5km at 6.5%), Bikotx-Gane (8km at 5%) and Sarasola (2km at 6%), before an undulating run-in to the finishing city and a short, steep climb to the finish line in Basauri.
Seixas started the day in the race lead after winning the opening two stages ahead of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates Roglič and Florian Lipowitz.
A series of attacks on the flatter opening half of the race were not strong enough to materialise into a breakaway, but did cause several splits to form in the peloton. A 16-rider breakaway eventually emerged with roughly 90km to go, just ahead of the first main ascent, Barrerilla.
The group included Laurance, Arrieta and Tesfatsion along with Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team), Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United), Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United), Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Joan Bou (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Matthew Dinham (Picnic PostNL), Reuben Thompson(Lotto Intermarché), Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH), Jonathan Lastra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
During the flurry of activity, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who started the day in eighth place overall, was forced to abandon the race due to a crash with 85 kilometres remaining.
Decathlon CMA CGM Team, Cofidis and Tudor Pro Cycling set a steady pace at the front of the main field and never let the gap to the large breakaway gain more than two minutes.
A few of the riders in the breakaway began to show signs of fatigue as the race headed deeper into the climbs. They eventually split apart with several riders struggling over the Bikotx-Gane ascent, and by the time they reached the Sarasola, Arrieta and Laurance surged over the top with a 30-second gap on nine riders from the original move.
The pace appeared to ease from the main field behind the two leaders, and the gap opened back up to more than three minutes with 14km to go.
The victory would almost certainly go to either Laurance or Arrieta, who reached the punchy climbs in the last 7km with over a minute ahead of the chasing nine: Van Wilder, Fortunato, Martin, Braz Afonso, Tesfatsion, Shaw, Van der Lee, Johannessen and Thompson.
The pair descended into Basauri and hit the final short climb to the finish, but Arrieta, sitting on Laurance’s wheel, and the ease of their pace allowed the chase group behind to slash the gap to a few seconds on the final ascent.
Arrieta launched off of Laurance’s wheel in the last few hundred metres, sprinting for the line, but lost steam in the closing metres, and Laurance surged around him to take the victory right on the line.
Results :
 ME - Stage 3 </strong> - Basauri - Basauri : 152,8 km
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Classified as a 2.UWT event by the UCI, Itzulia Basque Country is a prestigious multi-day stage race held in the Basque region of northern Spain. It is renowned for its exceptionally demanding terrain, characterized by a relentless series of short, steep climbs and narrow, winding roads that offer no respite for the peloton. Unlike many other stage races, it typically lacks flat transitional stages, favoring versatile climbers and explosive punchers who can handle high-intensity racing in often unpredictable spring weather. The event is celebrated for its passionate local spectators and technical complexity, where tactical positioning and consistent performance across all stages are paramount for securing the general classification. As a significant fixture on the WorldTour calendar, it serves as a definitive test of grit and recovery, rewarding riders who excel in explosive uphill finishes and high-speed descents.
Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) continued his run of success this season with the two-up sprint victory on stage 3 at Itzulia Basque Country.
The Frenchman launched off the wheel of breakaway companion Igor Arrieta (AE Team Emirates-XRG), who started his sprint first but faded in the final metres on the uphill finale, securing his fourth win of the season. Arrieta was forced to settle for second place in Basauri.
The pair were part of a larger 16-rider breakaway that formed mid-race, but they split off the front at the top of the last categorised ascent, Sarasola, with roughly 25km remaining of the 153km race.
Natnael Tesfatsion (Movistar), who was also part of the original breakaway, crossed the line in third place from the chase-group sprint.
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) maintained his overall race lead with 1:59 ahead of Primož Roglič and 2:08 ahead of Florian Lipowitz (both Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
<strong>How it unfolded</strong>
The peloton raced along a challenging 152.8km route in and around Basauri for the third stage at the Itzulia Basque Country. They climbed three categorised ascents, all in the second half of the race: Barrerilla (5km at 6.5%), Bikotx-Gane (8km at 5%) and Sarasola (2km at 6%), before an undulating run-in to the finishing city and a short, steep climb to the finish line in Basauri.
Seixas started the day in the race lead after winning the opening two stages ahead of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates Roglič and Florian Lipowitz.
A series of attacks on the flatter opening half of the race were not strong enough to materialise into a breakaway, but did cause several splits to form in the peloton. A 16-rider breakaway eventually emerged with roughly 90km to go, just ahead of the first main ascent, Barrerilla.
The group included Laurance, Arrieta and Tesfatsion along with Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team), Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United), Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United), Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Joan Bou (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Matthew Dinham (Picnic PostNL), Reuben Thompson(Lotto Intermarché), Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH), Jonathan Lastra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
During the flurry of activity, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who started the day in eighth place overall, was forced to abandon the race due to a crash with 85 kilometres remaining.
Decathlon CMA CGM Team, Cofidis and Tudor Pro Cycling set a steady pace at the front of the main field and never let the gap to the large breakaway gain more than two minutes.
A few of the riders in the breakaway began to show signs of fatigue as the race headed deeper into the climbs. They eventually split apart with several riders struggling over the Bikotx-Gane ascent, and by the time they reached the Sarasola, Arrieta and Laurance surged over the top with a 30-second gap on nine riders from the original move.
The pace appeared to ease from the main field behind the two leaders, and the gap opened back up to more than three minutes with 14km to go.
The victory would almost certainly go to either Laurance or Arrieta, who reached the punchy climbs in the last 7km with over a minute ahead of the chasing nine: Van Wilder, Fortunato, Martin, Braz Afonso, Tesfatsion, Shaw, Van der Lee, Johannessen and Thompson.
The pair descended into Basauri and hit the final short climb to the finish, but Arrieta, sitting on Laurance's wheel, and the ease of their pace allowed the chase group behind to slash the gap to a few seconds on the final ascent.
Arrieta launched off of Laurance's wheel in the last few hundred metres, sprinting for the line, but lost steam in the closing metres, and Laurance surged around him to take the victory right on the line.
<strong>Results : </strong>
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