The German remains on the overall podium, while teammate Ilan Van Wilder sits just a couple of seconds from the top three.
Thursday’s parcours of the Itzulia Basque Country stage four threw more climbs into the peloton’s way, many of them with the same unforgiving gradients, for a total of 3000 vertical meters. This relentless parcours made for a chaotic first two hours of racing, as attacks came left and right from the numerous riders who were trying to establish a breakaway.
A group formed on the undulating roads to the first classified ascent of the day, but it was quickly overhauled by the peloton. Another breakaway attempt resulted in eleven riders going clear and pushing their gap to two minutes, but the work of Soudal Quick-Step and other teams erased the escapees’ margin before Izua, the final ascent of this stage – 3.6km wall averaging over 10%.
As some decided to ramp up the pace on the gradients that in some places reached 20%, Max Schachmann began to suffer and lose contact with the chasing group that formed behind lone leader Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), where Ilan Van Wilder managed to book a place. Showing incredible determination, the yellow jersey battled hard on every inch of the road, showing a lot of grit and emptying himself as he tried to limit the losses on the way to the top.
Schachmann crested the summit some 20 seconds behind the first group, but his remarkable descending skills helped the German make it back there and even sprint to third in Markina-Xemein, a result that came with four bonus seconds. The third podium scored in four days helped Max cement his place in the top three of the Itzulia Basque Country general classification, where Ilan sits an impressive fourth.
“Today we had another long fight for the breakaway, with high speeds that left many tired when a breakaway finally went. The last climb was really tough, with some brutal gradients which I knew weren’t in my favour, but I rode my own tempo and on the descent I managed to return in the chasing group. I gave my best and I don’t have any regrets. Considering how hard it was today, I am happy to be on the podium”
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
