Tour of the Basque Country 2026 – Stage 4 [LAST 10 KM]

April 9, 2026

65th Itzulia Basque Country 2026 🇪🇸 (2.UWT) ME – Stage 4 – Galdakao – Galdakao : 167,2 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.

After a breathless day of racing from start to finish on stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country, Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) emerged on top of the final uphill run to the line for victory ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).

Raced at full gas for 167km in Galdakao, riders were left all over the road in the finale, but Aranburu was able to keep enough in the tank, having attacked from the large breakaway of the day over the last categorised climb, to sprint to the line faster than the Norwegian and Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) in third.

Aranburu and Johannessen were alone heading into the final kilometre, and almost looked as though they had thrown it away, with a small group and his teammate Ion Izagirre threatening to come over the top of the seemingly faltering pair. But as the final sprint picked up, Johannessen got back on the front and inadvertently served as the lead-out for Aranburu, who had timed his effort perfectly.

“All of my victories in the Basque Country are very special. Yesterday I was very sad and frustrated with myself, but now, I’m delighted,” said Aranburu after his third stage win in the Basque Country.

“On the climb I tried to drop everyone, but Johannessen was very close, came back on the descent, so I decided to try and rejoin with him. I did well in the finish. When I saw Ion on the right side I was quite surprised, but we know this finish, so it was actually perfect for us.”

Race leader Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) continued to flex his strength over the opposition, marking every attack over the undulating terrain and attacking the final descent to finish eighth on the stage and extend his lead over his main rivals.

Thanks to his efforts, Seixas gained 20 seconds on his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rivals Primož Roglič and Florian Lipowitz, with only really Izagirre and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) gaining time on the Frenchman, moving the former up to fourth overall.

While his advantage is no massive at more than two minutes at least to everyone chasing him, Seixas still has two days of tricky undulating racing to navigate before he can confirm his first WorldTour stage race GC victory in Bergara.

Race leader Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) continued to flex his strength over the opposition, marking every attack over the undulating terrain and attacking the final descent to finish eighth on the stage and extend his lead over his main rivals.

How it unfolded
With riders reaching the first of seven categorised climbs in the opening 10km of racing, action came right from the off on stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country. There were several initial attempts to get ahead on the Aretxabalgane (4.5 km at 5.3%), east of Bilbao, even from a group of 22, but no early break formed.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG were very active among the moves, with the likes of Adria Pericas, Marc Soler and Brandon McNulty all trying to get away in various groups. With the San Pelavo and Jata climbs completed, the US rider attacked away solo, approaching the Unbe climb with a 20-second lead over the peloton.

After the hectic opening hour-and-a-half Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) was forced to abandon the race due to stomach issues, having played a largely absent role on GC on what was his return to racing from a heavy crash at Paris-Nice.

McNulty kicked on alone into the final 70km, by which point a massive chasing group of 34 riders had formed, with three more categorised climbs left to tackle on the loop back to the finish in Galdakao, to reps up either side of Elorritxueta (Vivero) and one ascent of Legina.

There was ample quality on that first chase group, who were the only riders able to deny McNulty, as Sexias’ Decathlon teammates shut up shop behind and let the gap to the leader blow out to more than four minutes, but their disadvantage remained at more than two minutes heading into the final 60km.

The group in full contained Ben Healy, Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Tobias Halland Johannessen, Andreas Kron, Magnus Cort, Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Guillame Martin, Clément Braz Afonso, Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ United), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Marc Soler, Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Quinn Simmons, Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), Christian Scaroni, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana), Steff Cras, Mauri Vansevenant (both Soudal-QuickStep), Juan Pedro López, Raúl García Pierna (Movistar), Gal Glivar, Emiel Verstrynge, Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Luke Tuckwell, Haimar Etxeberria (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), Gotzon Martín, Txomin Juaristi, Jonathan Lastra (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Tim Rex (Visma-Lease a Bike), Victor Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers), Bjorn Koerdt, Matthew Dinham (Picnic-PostNL), Fabian Weiss (Tudor) and Carlos García Pierna (Burgos Burpellet BH).

It looked for all money that indeed McNulty and the leaving chase group would be playing out the finale between them, but that was before Bahrain Victorious decided they were going to try and bring things back together.

After 70km alone, McNulty was brought back by the front group of 35 and the peloton had melted away that near four-minute margin down to 1:33 with 31km to go.

On the tougher side up to Vivero (4.2km at 7.5%), the break started fracturing heavily as Decathlon moved back into control for Seixas in the peloton. In front, those struggling quickly dropped, such as Healy and Cort, and the attacks happened simultaneously from the likes of Simmons, Johannessen and Soler.

The peloton was just as active, notably Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, but Seixas was having none of it, marking several moves from Florian Lipowitz as a teammate continued to set the tempo.

Soler was joined by Tuckwell and Anders Halland Johannessen off the front, with one climb left to tackle and the bunch still 1:42 behind them. The Nowegian got away in the final 15km as everyone showed signs of just how had a day it had been. The chasers sat 16 seconds down at the foot of the final climb with the peloton at 1:23.

Primož Roglič attacked the lower, vicious slopes for Red Bull, but again Seixas was alive to it. Ahead, Lopez took over and passed Johannessen, but his brother was in the wheel and ready to respond.

Seixas finally started to squeeze all of his rivals with 10km remaining in the day and around 1.6km of the final categorised climb left to take on. He had just 51 seconds of a disadvantage left to make up on the leaders.

With 10km to go, Aranburu attacked away on his own and led over the top of Legina, just ahead of Tobias Johannessen, ready to try and exercise his expertise downhill. Most of the leading group were on their knees by this point, but the peloton still had 50 seconds to make up.

Basque rider Aranburu eked out a lead over the Norwegian thanks to his local knowledge but also his daredevil lines, but flat roads at the bottom allowed him back in. Behind, similar was happened as Seixas showed off his immense versatility by attacking the whole peloton on his own.

The two leaders reached the foot of the final uphill to the line with time in hand, but with no time to hesitate as the race leader picked up riders behind and kept pacing to try and snatch a third stage win of the week.

Scaroni tried to bridge, bringing across fellow attackers from behind, Izagirre and Bilbao, to the wheel of the leading pair, with the former trying to attack away, giving his teammate the tactical edge.

This brought a response from Johannessen, knowing Aranburu wouldn’t chase his fellow Cofidis man, and with the final sprint to the line unfolding, it was no surprise to see the Basque rider come out on top. This was Aranburu’s third win at his home stage race and gave Cofidis their first WorldTour win of 2026.

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