The Belgian is second now after the longest stage of the week.
Wednesday was another nervous day at the Basque race, which was marred by two crashes: one coming with more than 30 kilometers to go, just as the peloton was reeling in the original breakaway, and another one that happened less than two kilometers from home, as the fight for positioning was intense at the front of the bunch.
Luckily, none of our riders were involved in these incidents, and concluded safely in the bunch the stage won by Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Altsasu, a small town in Navarre. Before the fast men hit the spotlight, the general classification favourites had their own battle for the intermediate sprint bonifications. Excellently launched by his Soudal Quick-Step teammates, Remco Evenepoel took three seconds that bumped him into second overall, just seven seconds off the lead.
Thursday could bring more significant changes to the overall ranking, as with just 12 kilometers to go, the riders will tackle the hard Leintz-Gatzaga climb, whose 8.5% average gradient promises to create some gaps between the yellow jersey contenders.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
