2025 Itzulia Basque Country Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2025 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
Aranburu Wins Stage, Schachmann Seals Lead
The peloton put on a show from start to finish in the third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country. Alex Aranburu took the spoils with a late attack, while Maximilian Schachmann crossed the line in third to strengthen his lead in the general classification.
Despite a flurry of attacks, the bunch remained intact as they reached the base of the second climb, the Andazaratte. Then Gerben Kuypers, Bruno Armirail, Txomin Juaristi, Mattéo Vercher, and Txomin Juaristi took their chances. Only Armirail and Vercher survived as a large chase group formed behind.
Armirail dropped Vercher on the third climb, the Alkiza, and he reached the summit solo. Meanwhile, the peloton reeled in the chase group, featuring notable riders like Marc Soler, Sepp Kuss, Roger AdriĂ , Bauke Mollema, Mauri Vansevenant, and Jack Haig.
Relentless attacks behind the Frenchman caused Pello Bilbao to drop back, while the peloton caught the lone leader on the Mandubia. Brandon McNulty and Harold Tejada then pushed on together, reaching the summit with a narrow advantage.
In the valley, they were joined by JoĂŁo Almeida, Mattias Skjelmose, Enric Mas, and Nelson Oliveira, but the peloton came back to them as the road inclined again.
Marc Soler was the next rider to attack. Clément Berthet and Rudy Molard rejoined him, and the three built a lead of over a minute on the peloton.
On the climb to Gainza, Molard lost contact with the leading group. Berthet then dropped Soler, while overall leader Maximilian Schachmann struggled to keep pace in the peloton. Although he was dropped, he managed to rejoin on the descent.
In the valley, the GC leader attacked, joined by Isaac del Toro, Florian Lipowitz, Aleksandr Vlasov, and nine other riders. At the intermediate sprint, Lipowitz secured one bonus second. On the final climb, Lipowitz caught Berthet, with Schachmann following him closely. In the background, the first and second groups merged.
Almeida entered the descent with a slight lead. Alex Aranburu jumped across to him, and when the Portuguese rider took a roundabout poorly, the Basque rider opened up a gap. He extended it at the next roundabout and crossed the line first.
Schachmann finished third, extending his lead over his rivals with four bonus seconds.
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