2025 Itzulia Basque Country Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 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
A remarkable achievement for Almeida in Markina-Xemein
João Almeida left his competitors behind during the challenging final ascent of stage 4 at the Itzulia Basque Country. He reached the summit with an impressive half-minute advantage and maintained it all the way down to the finish line.
The effort earned the Portuguese rider both the stage victory and the leader's jersey. After an attack from Julian Alaphilippe, Thibault Guernalec, Juri Hollmann, and Mauro Schmid, the peloton regrouped during the first climb of the day. Schmid made another bid with Ben Healy shortly after, but Quinn Simmons quickly closed the gap to join them. Together, they pulled away, creating a solid 1-minute cushion, while Marc Soler, Andrea Bagioli, Alex Baudin, Sepp Kuss, Léo Bisiaux, and Finn Fisher-Black set off on their quest to catch up. The six riders successfully bridged the gap, and the leading trio expanded their advantage to a 2-minute lead.
As the peloton regrouped before the final climb, Santiago Buitrago was the first to make a decisive break on the steep terrain. João Almeida followed closely and then surged ahead of the Colombian. Almeida reached the summit a full 33 seconds ahead of the first chasers, with yellow jersey holder Maximilian Schachmann dropped behind. However, on the descent, the German rider worked hard to regain contact.
In the end, Almeida raced to a beautiful victory. With this stage win, he climbed to the top of the standings. Former leader Schachmann finished third, now sitting 30 seconds back in the general classification, while Florian Lipowitz trailed closely in fourth, just 8 seconds later.
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