On the climbs, however, Lipowitz had sold himself well, even initiating the decisive attack. Even on the descents, the 25-year-old could not be shaken off by the speedy Seixas. In the end, after 176 kilometres around Eibar, it was his sprightliness that tipped the scales in favour of the mega talent after eight climbs.

However, Lipowitz took a step forward in the overall standings and is now second, overtaking his team-mate Primoz Roglic, who finished 1:11 minutes behind in the chasing group. Javier Romo (Movistar Team) escaped from this group in the final kilometres to finish third on the day. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) and Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike) were not among the chasers and lost their top six positions. Nevertheless, Roglic's podium is not yet secure. The Slovenian is just ten seconds ahead of Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), 3:40 minutes behind Seixas and 70 seconds behind Lipowitz.

The last stage on Saturday will also be difficult again with six climbs. In addition, after the best weather so far in the north of Spain, it is expected to rain, which could make the descents a little more dangerous. Nevertheless, Seixas is not afraid of giving away his overall victory, which is basically certain without any bad luck. "Everyone will be careful, nobody wants to crash and I know that I can control my bike. Of course it will be dangerous, but there is no such thing as zero per cent risk in cycling," said the winner, who has now taken his tally in the Basque Country to three victories. In his career - this year - he has a total of five victories.

He had more or less announced the most recent one. "I had already said this morning that I would like to win the stage. It was a big test today. In the end it was a tight race. Chapeau to everyone, it was a really tough day and I'm happy that I was able to win for the team."

Tour of the Basque Country 2026 - Results of stage 5

>> New role for Primož Roglič: Between team reorganisation and Vuelta mission

>> Tour of the Basque Country: The key moments for victory

>> Unplanned start: Lipowitz in the Basque Country with a podium finish

>> Tour of the Basque Country 2026: The favourites - A generational duel

>> Tour of the Basque Country 2026: The most important facts in brief

How the 5th stage of the 2026 Tour of the Basque Country went:

At the start of the day, the race scenario was similar to the previous day. Once again, Decathlon allowed a large group of more than 30 riders to escape, Most of the protagonists from the previous day, including winner Alex Aranburu. Ahead of the large group were Steven Kruijswijk (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché). Their gap to the peloton was up to four minutes. But that changed in a flash after 100 kilometres. On the climb to the fifth mountain classification of the day (1st category), Decathlon put on so much pressure that the gap to the group shrank to half a minute. Then Lipowitz attacked.

Initially, only Seixas was able to follow the German's advance. In no time at all, they were in the middle of the chasing group, from which Vauquelin had broken away to the front. By the time they reached the summit, however, most of the classement riders had also come back. Around 25 riders went into the descent. There the group fell apart again, but came back together on the flat afterwards.

Lipowitz back in attack mode

On the approach to the next climb 50 kilometres before the finish, Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) broke away. A lead of up to 45 seconds was enough for 20 kilometres. Then, on the second-to-last climb of the day, Seixas increased the pace before Lipowitz attacked over the top. By the summit, the duo had built up a lead of 25 seconds on Roglic. Meanwhile, Romo had even managed to catch up, but at the top he crashed after coming into contact with Lipowitz's rear wheel.

The German was able to follow the fast Seixas downhill, Roglic and Romo also formed a team later on, but after the last climb around ten kilometres before the finish, they were caught by the other chasers around Izagirre. The leading duo, whose lead was at least 30 seconds, could no longer be caught, especially not when the group stopped working together five kilometres before the finish.

Lipowitz did try again to shake Seixas off his rear wheel in the slightly uphill finale. But he did not succeed. The Frenchman then had the better cards in the sprint.