Tour of the Basque Country: Almeida takes the yellow jersey away from Schachmann with victory
TOUR Online
· 10.04.2025
Stage 4 offered a typical profile for the Tour of the Basque Country: seven mountain classifications had to be conquered on the 169.6 kilometres between Beasain and Markina-Xemein. Unlike the previous days, however, this time the finale featured the first 1st category climb of this tour with the short ascent to Izua - with gradients of up to 20 per cent. Ideal terrain for Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), who broke away on the climb, defended his lead on the subsequent descent and celebrated victory for the day. The Portuguese rider thus took the lead in the overall standings.
Schachmann again strong as third on the day
Almeida's team-mate Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) won the sprint for second place 28 seconds later ahead of Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step), who was still among the best riders in the classification despite the difficult climb. He also received a three-second time bonus for third place. Nevertheless, he had to relinquish the yellow jersey. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) belonged to this group.
"The race was decided on the steep final climb. I knew that this climb didn't suit me, but I had a clear plan to ride at my own pace. I was then able to close the gap again. Joao Almeida rode an excellent race and now deserves the yellow jersey. I got the maximum out of it," said Schachmann on "Eurosport" after the stage.
Almeida now leads the overall standings by 30 seconds ahead of Schachmann, with Lipowitz in third place at 38 seconds.
Tour of the Basque Country 2025 - Results of the 4th stage
Stage 4: Beasain - Markina-Xemein
Itzulia Basque Country 2025: Stage 4, Beasain - Markina-Xemein
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 03:52:39 |
| 2 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | +00:00:28 |
| 3 | Soudal Quick-Step | +00:00:28 |
| 4 | XDS Astana Team | +00:00:28 |
| 5 | Cofidis | +00:00:28 |
| 6 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | +00:00:28 |
This is how the 4th stage of the Tour of the Basque Country 2025 went
Right at the start of the stage, the riders collected the first metres of altitude and several riders used this terrain for attacks - among others, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Juri Hollmann (Alpecin - Deceuninck) were active. However, no escape group worth mentioning formed at first.
Only after 50 kilometres did a trio of Quinn Simmons (Lidl - Trek), Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost), and Mauro Schmid (Jayco - AlUla) break away, who were joined 25 kilometres later by Marc Soler (UAE - Emirates - XRG), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl - Trek), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull - Bora - hansgrohe), Alex Baudin (EF Education - EasyPost) and Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) got.
Meanwhile, the group was never allowed a big lead - the gap mostly hovered around 1:30 minutes. As a result, the group was joined by Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel - Euskadi) and Ander Okamika (Burgos - Burpellet BH). In the peloton, Bahrain - Victorious and Soudal Quick-Step controlled the chase.
Almeida the strongest rider on the steep Izua
Shortly before the climb to Izua (3.5 kilometres long, average gradient of 9.6 per cent), the escape group was placed 17 kilometres before the finish. The first notable attack on the climb came from Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain - Victorious), before Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) broke away decisively and reached the mountain classification with a lead of around 25 seconds. This was followed by a ten-kilometre descent to the finish.
Behind Almeida, a twelve-man chasing group came together, including Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek), Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) and Buitrago. Maximilian Schachmann was initially a few seconds behind after the climb, but was able to catch up again on the descent. However, it was no longer possible to catch up with Almeida.
