Four For Bora With Buchmann Victory in Itzulia Basque Country Stage 5
Four For Bora With Buchmann Victory in Itzulia Basque Country Stage 5
The six-stage race concludes on Saturday with a 118km ride that takes the peloton into the mountains around Eibar.
Germany's Emanuel Buchmann took the overall lead in the Tour of the Basque Country on Friday by winning the fifth stage in Arrate.
Bora-Hansgrohe's Buchmann attacked on the penultimate ascent and held on to see off the challenge of Ion Izagirre (Astana), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana).
The victory means Buchmann moves ahead of his teammate Maximilian Schachmann, who drops to third. Izagirre sits in second place, 54 seconds off the lead.
"Today was a really hard race," Buchmann said. "It was really fast in the peloton all day. There were three or four riders and I felt good.
"I thought everyone was tired and I tried hard with 20 kilometres to go, I held to the finish and now I am the leader.
"It is nice to be in the lead and I will try to defend it tomorrow. To win it would be incredible."
The six-stage race concludes on Saturday with a 118km ride that takes the peloton into the mountains around Eibar.
Overall standings
1. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/Bora) 16hrs 23min 30sec, 2. Ion Izagirre (ESP/AST) at 54sec, 3. Maximilian Schachmann (GER/BOR) 1:04, 4. Daniel Martin (IRL/UAE) 1:32, 5. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN/AST) same time, 6. Patrick Konrad (AUT/BOR) 1:55, 7. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 1:56, 8. Daniel Martinez (COL/EF1) 2:11, 9. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 2:25, 10. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) s.t.