{"id":523287,"date":"2026-04-10T12:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T12:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/523287\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T12:24:12","slug":"itzulia-basque-country-stage-5-live-paul-seixas-remains-in-the-yellow-jersey-for-the-queen-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/523287\/","title":{"rendered":"Itzulia Basque Country stage 5 LIVE – Paul Seixas remains in the yellow jersey for the queen stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Refresh <\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:14:28.708Z<\/p>\n

The break’ grown their lead more, to over four minutes. It’s going to be a big challenge for the peloton to bring them back.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:10:45.471Z<\/p>\n

Of the riders in the break, it seems that Guillaume Martin is the highest on GC in 16th at 4:38.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:09:15.604Z<\/p>\n

In fact, this group consists of many of the men who were most prominent in yesterday’s break. We’ll bring a full list to you shortly.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:07:52.481Z<\/p>\n

Some of the most eye-catching names in the breakaway group include – Ben Healy, Marc Soler, Fortunato, Scaroni, Martin and yesterday\u2019s winner Aranburu.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:03:25.050Z<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:02:00.776Z
\n150KM TO GO<\/p>\n

And it appears that this will be the break of the day. The peloton has sat up, and allowed them a lead of about three minutes already.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:01:18.391Z<\/p>\n

It’s a large group that’s caught Veistroffer, of over 30 riders it seems.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T12:00:27.402Z<\/p>\n

It’s all change in the race, as Veistroffer has been joined by a group of riders.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:59:07.915Z<\/p>\n

After a flying start to life at Lidl-Trek with overall victory at Volta ao Algarve, Itzulia Basque Country follows Paris-Nice as the second consecutive stage race the Spaniard has pulled out of. That attracted criticism in some quarters, but his lead defended the decision as the right move to look after his fitness ahead of the coming Ardennes Classics.<\/p>\n

‘Don’t invent stories where there aren’t any’ \u2013 Lidl-Trek teammate defends Juan Ayuso after social media criticism over Basque Country withdrawal<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:53:38.725Z<\/p>\n

One rider missing today is Juan Ayuso, who abandoned the race yesterday. He later confirmed that he had been suffering from stomach problems.<\/p>\n

‘It’s been a few tough days’ – Juan Ayuso abandons Itzulia Basque Country before chance to climb out of large GC deficit<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:51:28.422Z
\nKOM – AZURKI <\/p>\n

Veistroffer’s still out in front alone, as he goes over the second climb of the day. At this rate he could find himself in a similar situation to Brandon McNulty yesterday, who spent a large portion of the day leading the race alone, before eventually burning out to finish almost 20 minutes down.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:42:26.984Z<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:37:42.854Z
\n160KM TO GO<\/p>\n

They’re on the climb now, with Veistroffer leading the race by just less than one minute.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:35:17.362Z<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a subdued start so far, but that should be about to change as they ride a short plateau to the foot of the first category one climb of the day, the 5.7km Azurki, which averages a tough 7.7%.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:33:52.580Z
\nKOM – ELKORRIETA <\/p>\n

Veistroffer leads the race over the climb, to take the KOM points.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:32:49.376Z<\/p>\n

Baptiste Veistroffer, leading the race<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:31:32.390Z<\/p>\n

Both Fern\u00e1ndez and Thompson have been caught, but Veistroffer remains out there alone.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:30:02.175Z<\/p>\n

The peloton were treated to the unusual spectacle of a local traditional \u2018Aurresku\u2019 performance before the start of the stage today.<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:27:23.908Z<\/p>\n

Reuben Thompson also attacks out of the peloton, and is now third on the road.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:25:29.468Z<\/p>\n

Veistroffer has a lead of a minute over the peloton already, and 30 seconds over the chaser Fern\u00e1ndez. That will likely change as they start climbing in a few kilometres.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:23:27.441Z<\/p>\n

The first 10km of this stage are flat, but then the climbing starts with the category three Elkorrieta, and barely relented for the remainder of the day.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:21:11.306Z<\/p>\n

Sinuh\u00e9 Fern\u00e1ndez is in pursuit of Veistroffer.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:20:14.844Z<\/p>\n

Baptiste Veistroffer, who was very busy during the first phase of yesterday’s stage, is the first to get a small gap today.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:19:00.368Z<\/p>\n

If yesterday’s stage is anything to go by, this will be a long, competitive battle to form the day’s break.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:15:39.838Z<\/p>\n

The scene at the start.<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:12:15.999Z
\nOFFICIAL START<\/p>\n

And they’re off!<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:07:27.513Z<\/p>\n

The weather continues to smile on the riders, treating them to blue skies and a temperature of over 20 degrees.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:06:20.149Z<\/p>\n

The winner of stage three, Axel Laurance, has not made it to the start this morning. He’s pulled out of the race.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:02:49.296Z<\/p>\n

The riders are making their way though the neutralised zone as we speak.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T11:00:53.174Z<\/p>\n

Paul Seixas in yellow with his Decathlon CMA CGM team at the start today.<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T10:58:19.659Z<\/p>\n

There was a lot to unpack from yesterday’s hectic stage. Have a read of our report for the full lowdown.<\/p>\n

Itzulia Basque Country: Alex Aranburu blasts ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen on final uphill section for stage 4 win<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T10:50:46.375Z<\/p>\n

The scene at the start today in Eibar, during the team presentation.<\/p>\n

\n

\"EIBAR,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T10:48:19.140Z<\/p>\n

Of course, there is one obvious way Seixas can be beaten – by riders in the break. There was huge interest in getting into the break yesterday, with the battle raging for hours and a massive group of over 30 eventually getting clear, and we should expect something similar today. Whether or not the catch is made may well depend on Seixas\u2019 appetite for another stage win.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T10:45:58.033Z<\/p>\n

Based on the way this race has gone so far, it\u2019s the kind of parcours that makes Paul Seixas hot favourite for the stage win. He\u2019s been in a league of his own so far this race on the climbs, and even gained time yesterday on the descent, and if this stage is to be as selective as it looks, it\u2019s hard to see how anybody can beat him in a mano y mano fight.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T10:41:45.690Z<\/p>\n

This is the day that the organisers have deemed the Queen Stage of the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country, and it\u2019s easy to see why. In total there are eight classified climbs, and a total of 3,814m elevation gain, including two particularly steep category one climbs in the second half of the stage.<\/p>\n

2026-04-10T10:37:12.072Z<\/p>\n

Hello and welcome to stage five of Itzulia Basque Country!<\/p>\n

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Logout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Refresh 2026-04-10T12:14:28.708Z The break’ grown their lead more, to over four minutes. It’s going to be a big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-523287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}