Tour of the Basque Country: Paul Seixas leaves victory to the escapees but further widens his lead in the general classification

It was not until the 4th day of racing that the French monopoly was challenged on the Tour of the Basque Country. The day after Axel Laurance’s victory, after the demonstrations of Paul Seixas in the inaugural time trial and his 26 km raid, Alex Aranburu won the 4th stage of the Spanish race, this Thursday in Galdakao. France still remains represented by Cofidis, the Basque team.

But neither the Spaniard nor the members of the chasing group posed any threat to Seixas’ yellow jersey. The latter controlled to finish the stage in 8th position, 14″ behind the winner. More than calm, he isolated himself from his competitors in the general classification in the last kilometers to fill his mattress. Decathlon leader CMA CGM now has a lead of more than 2′15″ over its runner-up Primoz Roglic.

Lipowitz tried

Third by more than 2′ overall before the stage, Florian Lipowitz tried to shake up the peloton during the penultimate climb of the day. However, Seixas did not panic, perfectly supported by Matthew Ricctello and Léo Bisiaux to respond to these attacks.

In the middle of the final climb, the 19-year-old Lyonnais even showed who was boss. Without accelerating suddenly, he moved to the front of the peloton to climb at a pace which prevented his opponents from escaping. On the contrary, he himself widened the gap on the descent.

“I knew they were going to attack me,” he explained after the race. I didn’t panic. I knew the descent. I told myself that I could give it a try knowing that they don’t all have excellent downhill skills. I managed to make the hole. I wanted to take some time to boost their morale if possible and make them understand that it wasn’t going to be so easy. »

The day after Isaac Del Toro dropped out, another announced Seixas competitor threw in the towel. “Unfortunately, Juan Ayuso was forced to withdraw due to stomach aches,” communicated the Lidl-Trek team. Out of shape, the Spaniard was already far from the Yellow Jersey. Like the rest of the peloton after four stages. There are only two left.