2022 Itzulia Basque Country Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 of the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Daniel Martinez won in the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country 2022, at the end of a short sprint. The driver of the Inoes Grenadiers was very good at choosing the right moment to launch his sprint: the Colombian, in fact, was good at anticipating the fastest riders and resisting the return of Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) The stage was very uncertain until the end, with Victor Lafay (Cofidis) who was the author of a long escape that saw him resist the return of the group until the entrance in the last kilometer. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) finished the stage in fourth place, keeping the yellow leader's jersey, but the 1996 class earned a 10 ″ bonus, approaching the Slovenian.
Started immediately at high speed after a short break in the transfer section for a protocol ceremony, the group is shaken by numerous attacks in the early stages, confirming the feeling that today could be a suitable day for an escape. By dint of sprints, after 15 kilometers a group of 15 men attacked, who quickly found an agreement to carry out their attempt. Cristián Rodríguez (Team TotalEnergies), Bruno Armirail (Groupama - FDJ), Victor Lafay (Cofidis), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Mauri Vansevenant (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-EasyPost), Rubén Fernández ( Cofidis), Mark Donovan (DSM), Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Tsgabu Grmay (BikeExchange-Jayco), Óscar Rodríguez (Movistar), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates), Mikel Iturria (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgohe) and Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma) initially stay just over ten seconds, with the Jumbo-Visma also trying to recall her man to mend quickly, but finding no collaboration she is forced to gradually give in land.
When the margin comes close to one minute, the men of Equipo Kern Pharma also lead the group, surprisingly left out of the day's breakaway, but the road begins to descend, making the pursuit more difficult. The first hour of racing ends with an average of 52 kilometers per hour and the breakaway capable of gaining 1'22 ”. During the descent the advantage remains fairly stable, with the forwards arriving at the start of the first climb of the day with a margin of 1'44 ”. During the ascent, however, the delay of the group increases, now pulled by the Jumbo-Visma, exceeding 2'20 "and reaching 3 'at the GPM, where Cristian Rodriguez passes first, thus strengthening the leadership in the ranking climbers.
Entering the last 100 kilometers of the race, the advantage of the 14 pacemakers rises for the first time over three minutes, remaining at 3'15 "for a long stretch, but returning to 2'30" at the beginning of the second GPM of day, where C. Rodriguez is again accumulating points. Along the climb, the delay of the group exceeds three minutes again, while the fugitives lose an element, Großschartner, thus remaining in 13. At the end of the next descent, however, Grmay decides to accelerate and detach his fellow adventurers, approaching the hard tear of Urruztimendi with an advantage of 50 "over the most immediate pursuers and of 2'40" over the platoon, which nevertheless operates an important acceleration in the kilometers that precede the ascent, characterized by a narrow road.
At this point the former escape companions are brought back to Grmay. The hard ramps of the climb, however, end up smashing the head of the race. Only Armiral, Thomas, Lafay and Guerreiro remained in front of the GPM, while the group proceeds calmly arriving at the GPM with a delay of 2'15 ”. In view of the first passage across the finish line, valid as an intermediate sprint, Formolo, Iturria and Vansevenant also return to the lead, while the main squad continues to lose ground: the delay is now more than three minutes. Lafay puts the other escape companions in difficulty, but the group has definitely come close. From the latter they try to escape first Gianluca Brambilla (Trek - Segafredo) and then Daniel Martinez, but Roglic controls the situation. Then Julian Alaphilippe also launches into the attack, but he is not given too much space either. Lafay then passes the GPM with an advantage of just over a minute over the group.
Thus begins a long chase between the fugitive and the group that has lost many elements. If, in fact, the most immediate pursuers are caught up quickly, the transalpine sells dearly, showing up ten kilometers from the end with a margin of just under a minute against the main group. Initially it is only the men of Bahrain Victorious who work, with, however, poor results. The situation changes when about 5 kilometers from the conclusion the UAE Team Emirates, among the most represented teams in the group, arrives at the head of the group. now marked: shortly after, in fact, Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) takes over the operations by doing a great job that leads to the exhaustion of Lafay's action shortly after passing the red triangle. The Belgian continues to work up to 500 meters from the finish: everything seems ready for a great sprint by Alaphilippe, but the world champion is anticipated by Martinez who thus goes to take his first success of the season.
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