Ireland’s Dan Martin and Slovenia’s
rising star Tadej Pogačar combined well to limit their losses at the Tour of
the Basque Country today.
The fifth stage of the race saw
Bora-hansgrohe reign supreme; taking its fourth stage win and swapping the race
lead within the team.
Frustratingly for Dan Martin, when a
four-man group went off the front on the final climb, he didn’t move with it.
And when he got going in his bid to
catch them, their gap over him was established. He then spent the next few
kilometres on his on maintaining the gap.
Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) had
gone clear in the early breakaway, dropping them all to win the 150km queen
stage from Arrigorriaga to Arrate.
He held on up the final climb of Usartza before descending into Arrate win by 1:12 from Ion Izagirre (Astana).
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Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) was next
two seconds later, followed by Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) a further four seconds
back.
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Then came Pogačar and Martin, placing
5th and 6th, some 1:38 behind the winner; a result that moved Dan Martin one
place higher overall to 4th.
Buchmann now leads by 54 seconds from
Izagirre, with three-stage winner and race leader this morning Maximilian
Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) next at 1:04.
Dan Martin is next in the standings at 1:32, equal on time with Fuglsang in 5th place.
Mikel Landa (Movistar) was first to
attack from the select group on the final climb, but it was Yates, Fuglsang and
Izagirre who emerged best and rode away from everyone else; race leader Schachmann
losing time on the final climb.
And while Martin was able to hold the
strongest trio on the climb, he didn’t move with them and so was left with it
all to do.
Tomorrow’s final stage features six categorised
climbs on the short 118km stage starting and finishing in Eibar, which promises
to be explosive.
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