The fight between the Tour of the Basque Country leaders moved up a notch this Thursday, in a grueling fourth stage, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet lived up to the expectations. The French climber followed the main favorites on the climb of Izua, before the descent to Markina-Xemein, and only Joao Almeida was able to break away to take the victory and the leader’s jersey. Tenth in the stage, the French climbed back to thirteenth overall. Also, Brieuc Rolland took the best young rider’s jersey!
If some were hoping for a slightly calmer day than the previous one on the Tour of the Basque Country, they certainly weren’t thrilled by how the fourth stage unfolded. From Beasain, and with nearly 3,000 meters of elevation gain still on the menu, the race turned out to be extremely fast on Thursday. With many riders believing in a successful breakaway, the moves proved almost uninterrupted for nearly seventy kilometres. “It was a very, very fast start, a tough race, and it didn’t ease off,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. On the climb of Muniketagane, around 100 kilometres from the finish, a group of nine riders finally managed to break away, including some top names, but the peloton didn’t completely let it go. The gap even narrowed to forty-five seconds twenty kilometers later, before the breakaway took its maximum lead of two minutes with sixty kilometres left to go, thanks to a slight pause in the peloton. However, the pace resumed with greater intensity, as the chase took place until the final climb of the day, at Izua (3.5 km at 9.5%), located 15 kilometres from the finish line. “Today’s stage suited Guillaume better than Romain, with a long climb, less explosive than yesterday,” explained Benoît.
“It’s satisfying”, Benoît Vaugrenard
Groupama-FDJ therefore put their focus on the French climber. “We organized well and put him in the best possible position before the final climb,” added Brieuc Rolland. The team’s leader was thus able to tackle the frightening slopes averaging 15% in the top ten positions, and from then on managed his climb perfectly, just behind the main favorites. “He was up there, in the mix, on a very hard climb,” Benoît emphasized. “Only one rider was above the rest, Joao Almeida.” At the summit, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet found himself thirty seconds behind the Portuguese rider in a group of around ten men, who were unable to close the gap on the descent. In the final flat section, the Groupama-FDJ rider tried to take his rivals by surprise by attacking with one kilometre to go, but his attempt was unsuccessful. A sprint therefore decided the remaining positions, and the 31-year-old Frenchman took tenth place. “It’s a good day for Guillaume, it’s satisfying,” Benoît said. “Romain suffered a bit of a setback after going hard yesterday and after what happened in the evening. It’s quite normal. I think it would have been a bit too hard for him today, anyway.”While the young puncher lost his place in the top 10 overall, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet climbed to thirteenth place, 2’34 behind Almeida. Brieuc Rolland moved up to 23rd overall and was awarded the best young rider jersey, previously held by… Romain Grégoire. “I tried to manage my effort on the climb, it was very tough, but I’m pretty satisfied,” said the young Breton. “I’m doing my best day after day, and that will help me improve.” On Friday, the fifth stage will again feature a hilly terrain towards Gernika-Lumo. “We came here for the stage wins,” Benoît recalled. “We will focus on that tomorrow, while keeping Guillaume safe for Saturday.”
