As it happened: Stage win goes to the breakaway and yellow jersey put under pressure on rainy final stage 6 of Itzulia Basque Country

They cross the line – Paul Seixas is winner of the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country!

2026-04-11T15:49:23.676Z

Here comes the yellow jersey group now.

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3:09 is the time Lipowitz needs to finish within Johanessen if he’s to defend his second place overall.

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Arrieta finishes, with a few UAE teammates. That’ll be enough to catapult him up the GC rankings.

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First place overall seems out of reach for Johannessen, but he may well take second depending on when the yellow jersey group arrives.

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And now the Johannessen group comes home. What will the gap be between them and the yellow jersey group?

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Van den Broek beats Glivar in the two-up sprint for third place.

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Garcia Pierna arrives home a few seconds home for second place.

He takes the win, the biggest of his career so far!

2026-04-11T15:45:03.004Z

Here the American comes.

August has a seven second lead over Garcia Pierna, with just 1km to ride.

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First place on GC might be out of sight for Johannessen, but he’s still fighting for second. It looks like it’ll come down to the wire between himself and Florian Lipowitz.

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August is looking good for the stage win – he’s just 2km away from the finish.

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Seixas leads his group over the top of the climb, three minutes after Johannessen. Provided he handles this final descent OK, he should be sealing overall victory.

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So far, though, August is descending to perfection.

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This is a tricky situation for August. He wants to push on on this descent to seal victory, but the road is dangerously wet.

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The Johannessen group reaches the top just under a minute later.

August reaches the top at the front of the race. It’s now pretty much all downhill to the finish

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August is nearing the top of the climb.

August is looking good for the stage win here! He’s 5 seconds up on Garcia Pierna, 20 seconds on Van den Broek and Glivar, and 30 seconds up on the Johannessen chase.

2026-04-11T15:33:02.549Z

August attacks again, and drops Garcia Pierna.

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Van den Broeck and Gilvar are chasing after the leading duo.

2026-04-11T15:30:24.781Z

The gap between the Seixas and Johannessen group is holding steady again, at about 3:20. It looks like Seixas should be OK.

2026-04-11T15:27:49.741Z

Andrew August attacks from the foot of the climb, taking Garcia Pierna with him.

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The leaders start the final climb, the Alto de Asentzio, which rises for 7.2km at 5.3%.

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Arrieta is up to 5th on the virtual GC, while Johannessen is up to second – but still needs a big 2:30 more to dethrone Seixas.

2026-04-11T15:23:26.547Z

A reminder that 5:39 is Seixas’ advantage over Johannessen on GC.

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Three minutes is the gap between the lead Johannessen group and the chasing Seixas group.

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This should help him, as there are multilple EF riders working at the front, for their GC man Alex Baudin.

2026-04-11T15:20:36.995Z

Seixas has dropped back to the Lipowitz group.

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The second highest man on GC in the lead group is Igor Arriera. At this rate he also stands to move up a lot.

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Johannessen is the only man in the lead group interested in the GC, but there’s plenty of incentive in it to work, as there’s a stage win up for grabs.

2026-04-11T15:17:58.782Z

There’s still no sign of his Decathlon teammate Riccitello – might he have been dropped earlier in the day, and therefore not be up ahead to provide help?

2026-04-11T15:17:11.733Z

Seixas is falling further adrift. He could do well to drop back into the group behind him, and receive some help.

Seixas is 2:30 behind the leading Johannessen group, and still 45 seconds ahead of the Lipowitz group.

2026-04-11T15:14:14.924Z

UAE’s contribution is making life harder for Seixas, who is dropping further behind.

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UAE are also working with Uno-X Mobility in the front group, with their eye on the stage win potentially for Arrieta.

2026-04-11T15:10:48.941Z

Healy and Skjelmose have been caught by the Johannessen chase group, at long last.

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Seixas’s Decathlon are monitoring the situation. His team car has just had a word with him. This is a test of the inexperienced nineteen-year-old’s tactical nous.

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Johannessen is also gaining time on Seixas, now over two minutes ahead. The Frenchman’s advantage over him of 5:39 should be safe, but he can’t afford to go into the red.

2026-04-11T15:07:59.893Z

This has been a great ploy by Uno-X Mobility today. Johannessen even has second-place in sight, with Lipowitz’s place there now under pressure.

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The riders are getting absolutely soaked out there.

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The rains started to fall even heavier.

2026-04-11T15:03:32.384Z

Riccitello still hasn’t been sent back to help pace Seixas, who’s being left to do all the work himself. He’s not making any inroads in the riders ahead of him.

Only 13 seconds now between the two leaders and the Johannessen chase. Meanwhile Seixas is two minutes down, and the Lipowitz group 45 seconds behind him.

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Soler has been caught by the Johannessen group, which has about 15 riders in it.

2026-04-11T14:59:41.202Z

Soler has been dropped by Healy and Skjelmose.

2026-04-11T14:58:17.381Z

The Johannessen group is getting nearer to the three chasers, now just 25 seconds behind.

2026-04-11T14:57:38.377Z

The riders have begun the long, draggy gradual uphill to the foot of the final climb. On these roads, those in groups with strength in numbers should be at an advantage – which could play against Seixas.

Soler was again first over the Alto de Azkarate, and is now getting close to overthrowing Seixas as leader of the montain classification, in one of today’s subplots.

1 Seixas 32 points

The leading trio are 1 minute ahead of the Johannessen chase group, which in turn is 1:30 ahead of Seixas, who is one minute ahead of the Lipowitz chase group.

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Paul Seixas on the attack.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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One big development today is that Tobias Halland Johannessen is rocketing up the GC ranking as a result of getting into the break. As things stand, he’s up to third in the virtual GC.

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He has four riders with him in total, but they might be able to last much longer on this climb.

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Paul Seixas has collected more riders dropped from the break ahead, and is motoring along with them on his wheel.

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It appears there is a chase group of about 10 behind Seixas , that is about 30 seconds adrift. It features Lipowitz and Izagirre, but not Roglič, who we think is in the peloton about a minute and a half adrift.

2026-04-11T14:39:16.645Z

The three leaders, ploughing on in the rain.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Soler, Healy and Skjelmose still lead the race, 1:25 ahead of the large Johannessen chase group, and 3:10 ahead of Seixas. It’s unclear how far behind the other GC favourites.

2026-04-11T14:32:23.092Z

Seixas will be fine on his own on this descent, and on the upcoming climb. It’s the vally road of about 20km leading to the final climb where he will need help.

2026-04-11T14:31:28.293Z

Scratch that – it’s not Riccitello who is with Seixas, but a Caja Rural rider who was dropped from the break. The Frenchman is having to do all the work himself for now.

2026-04-11T14:29:22.515Z

As strong as Seixas is, he will likely need Riccitello for this move, as he still has over 50km to ride until the finish.

2026-04-11T14:28:29.268Z

Riccitello has indeed dropped back from the break and is pacing the yellow jersey. This might always have been the plan from Decathlon.

2026-04-11T14:27:04.507Z

Seixas is on a mission. He’s already brough the gap between himself and the big chase group to 1:45, and 3:15 to the leaders.

2026-04-11T14:26:23.113Z

Seixas has a big gap over the others! And he’s also got a teammate in Riccitello up the road. He’ll presumably wait up for him soon.

Back at the front, Soler leads the front trio over the climb.

2026-04-11T14:24:23.230Z

That was a viscious, out-the-saddle-acceleration, and Seixas has gapped them all.

Now the Frenchman attacks – and it’s a big one!

2026-04-11T14:22:47.527Z

Seixas has moved to the front of this group and is setting the pace.

2026-04-11T14:21:10.882Z

Those five riders have caught Romo.

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Four riders have gone wirh Vauquelin – Seixas, Lipowitz, Izagirre and an Astana rider, possibly Tejada.

2026-04-11T14:19:22.493Z

The peloton is very small now, and attacks keep being made. Vauquelin is the latest to have a go.

2026-04-11T14:18:37.887Z

Lipowitz has indeed attacked! But Seixas is on his wheel.

2026-04-11T14:17:52.933Z

Romo has attacked, but will either of the Red Bull duo of Lipowitz and Roglič follow suit? They’re the best-placed on GC to challenge Seixas, in second and third respectively, but have a lot of ground to make up: 2:30 and 3:40 to be specific.

They haven’t had any joy in taking on the Frenchman yet, but might today be different in the wet conditions?

Healy and Soler are looking good, and have grown their lead to the chasing group to one minute. The peloton are 4:20 behind.

2026-04-11T14:12:03.318Z

Soler has managed to stick to Healy’s wheel.

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Skjelmose has been dropped, as Healy presses on.

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He doesn’t go clear, and Skjelmose takes to the front to ride tempo.

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Now Soler attacks!

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This increase in pace has helped their gap to the chase grow again, to 35 seconds.

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Healy and Soler have managed to follow him, but not the other two.

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Skjelmose attacks! He’s got a small gap ahead of the rest of the lead group.

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The chase group are right behind them now, at just 20 seconds.

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The leading 5 have started climbing again, up the 6.9km, 7.5% Alto de Elosua.

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The weather remains foul out there, with many layers being worn by all.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-04-11T14:00:16.903Z

Tomorrow, all the attention in the cycling world will turn to France for one of the occasions of the season: Paris-Roubaix. As always, anticipation has reached fever pitch – be sure to have a read of our analysis to get in the mood.

Still the chase group rides hard, propelled by Uno-X Mobility, but they haven’t brought the leading 5 back yet, who hold a 35 second advantage. The peloton is happy to let all these groups stay clear, however, and is just under 4 minutes behind the leaders.

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The riders are taking on a long flat section before the start of the day’s third climb, coming up in about 10km.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Here is the chase group in full:

Tobias Halland Johannessen, Andreas Kron, Torstein Træen, Martin Tjøtta, Johannes Kulset (all Uno-X Mobility), Bruno Armirail, Tim Rex, Menno Huising, Filippo Fiorelli (all Visma-Lease a Bike), Igor Arrieta, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak (all UAE Team Emirates XRG), Gal Gilvar, Emiel Verstrynge, Ramses Debruyne (all Alpecin-Premier Tech), Jan Castellon, Fernando Barceló, Alex Molenaar (all Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Guillaume Martin, Clément Braz Afonso (both Groupama-FDJ United), Raúl García Pierna, Natnael Tesfatsion (both Movistar), Markel Beloki, Michael Leonard (both EF Education-EasyPost), Steff Crass (Soudal-QuickStep), Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers), Oliver Stockwell (Bahrain Victorious), Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Frank van den Broek (Picnic-PostNL), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Simone Velasco (XDS Astana) and José Manuel Díaz (Burgos Burpellet BH).

The five leaders lead the chasers by 1:15, and the peloton by 4:15.

López led the five-man break over the climb.

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Soler and Øxenberg have dragged their way back to them.

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The lead group has broken up on this climb – López, Healy and Skjelmose are clear of ther other two.

2026-04-11T13:29:56.387Z

The riders are climbing again, up the 3km, 7.1% Alto de Azkarate.

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Riders have varying degrees of confidence descending in these conditions. In the break, López took it cautiously, and has only just rejoined the other leads now the road has flattened out.

The five leaders are one minute up on the chase group, and three minutes up on the peloton.

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Uno-X Moblity leading the chase group.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Other stand out names present in it include Igor Arrieta, Matthew Riccitello, Guillaume Martin and Raúl García Pierna.

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In the chase group, Uno-X Moblity is the best represented team with five riders, though Visma-Lease a Bike have four (including Armirail), while Alpecin-Premier Tech and Caja Rural – Seguros RGA have three each.

2026-04-11T13:21:08.623Z

Juan Pedro López and Peter Øxenberg have joined the three leaders on the descent.

Soler, Skjelmose and Healy still lead, with the Uno-X Mobility chase group 1:20 down, and the peloton 3:00 down.

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There are about 30 riders in this chase group led by Uno-X Mobility. The highest ranked rider on GC appears to be Tobias Halland Johannessen at 5:39.

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The group being led by Uno-X Mobility isn’t the peloton, but rather a very large chasing group. Paul Seixas and his main GC rivals are in the peloton, further behind.

Soler moves to the front of the leading trio and takes the points at the top of the climb.

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The pace set by Uno-X Mobility on the climb has seen the peloton significantly reduced in size already.

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The three rides leading the race.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Uno-X Mobility are leading the chase in the peloton. They don’t have a GC man, so are doing so to try to form a new break with their riders represented in it.

2026-04-11T13:01:39.715Z

Peter Øxenberg has joined López in the chase.

2026-04-11T13:00:44.266Z

Here’s more on the news today that Pello Bilbao has announced his retirement from racing.

Still Soler, Healy and Skjelmose lead by 20 seconds, as the near the foot of the day’s second climb.

2026-04-11T12:48:43.320Z

The three leaders crested the first climb together ahead of the bunch, with Skjelmose taking the 3 points, Healy 2 points and Soler 1 point. Each of these riders do have some points in the KOM classification, but are some way down from the leader Paul Seixas.

1 Seixas 32 points

Soler, Healy and Skjelmose still lead, by about 20 seconds.

2026-04-11T12:43:37.997Z

The weather really has turned nasty today. This could make for a complicated final stage – and a new test for Paul Seixas, should his GC rivals want to put him under pressure in these conditions.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-04-11T12:37:40.741Z

Soler and Healy are reuniting having attacked together yesterday. It’s no surprise to see two riders with such an insatiable appetite for attacking get up the road again today.

2026-04-11T12:35:23.723Z

Three riders have gone clear from the bunch, and it’s a strong trio – Soler, Healy, and Skjelmose.

2026-04-11T12:32:37.330Z

As feared, the weather has taken a turn for the worse, and it’s started raining.

Still no break has gone clear, as they continue up the climb.

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Van der Lee on the attack.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-04-11T12:22:10.163Z

He’s been brought back, and the peloton is all together.

2026-04-11T12:19:14.012Z

Jardi Christiaan van der Lee has attacked on the climb. The Dutchman has ridden aggressively throughout this week.

2026-04-11T12:17:40.666Z

The climbing has begun pretty much straight away, with the riders already taking on the first of the day’s 6 categorised ascents: the 4.6km, 7.6% Alto de Asentzio.

And they’re off!

2026-04-11T12:10:18.641Z

We’ll bring you more on that Bilbao news later.

2026-04-11T12:09:59.852Z

A major announcement was made during sign-in today – Pello Bilbao will retire at the end of the season. The 36-year-old has been one of the best Basque riders of his generation, winning stages at and finishing in the top 6 at both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.

2026-04-11T12:07:35.467Z

As forecasted, the temperature has dipped from the highs of the week so far, but there’s no rain – at least not yet. Should the heavens open, this could become a complicated stage, what with all the descending as well as ascending.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-04-11T12:05:24.313Z

The riders will be racing soon – they’re just making their way through the neutralised zone towards the official start.

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Also missing from the start having pulled out are Julian Alaphilippe, Enzo Paleni and Gotzon Martin.

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There are a handful of riders who won’t be starting today – most notably Ben Tulett. The Brit had been 6th overall on GC, before being dropped early yesterday to slide down to 16th.

2026-04-11T11:51:31.274Z

Florian Lipowitz nearly managed to get the better of Seixas yesterday, sticking to his wheel throughout the stage, but came out second best in the final sprint between the two.