Our team will enter the final stage with two riders in the top five overall.
The peloton started from Urduña on Friday and travelled to the city of Gernika – the spiritual, the sentimental capital of Euskadi – immortalized by the great Pablo Picasso in his 1937 masterpiece – a timeless anti-war allegory dominated by its symbols and references to different mythologies and historical events.
Situated in the valley of the Oca river, Gernika welcomed the bunch 56 years after its first presence on the route of Itzulia Basque Country, this time coming at the end of a 172.3km stage that featured seven climbs, four of which were classified. It was a day for a breakaway, Ben Healy EF Education-Easy Post) emerging victorious after attacking from the small group that had a maximum advantage of three minutes on the peloton.
Max Schachmann started the day sitting in third on the general classification, and despite being distanced on the last ascent when an injection of pace at the front of the peloton split the yellow jersey group, the German fought admirably again and clawed back time, making it back just before the top of the climb. As a result, Schachmann remained second on the general classification podium, 19 seconds ahead of Soudal Quick-Step teammate Ilan Van Wilder, who sits fourth going into the complicated stage six around Eibar.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
