"It's always a big mess, the last stage here" - Jonas Vingegaard ready to defend lead on final day of Itzulia Basque Country

Jonas Vingegaard retained his race lead on stage 5 of the Itzulia Basque Country, in fact increasing his advantage courtesy of a bonus second earned in the intermediate sprint. With one stage left, the Dane is ready for a hectic day.

"It was a big fight just to bring this breakaway back," Vingegaard told reporters in the immediate aftermath of stage 5. "Once again I have to thank my teammates for bringing it back and sacrificing everything today. They did an amazing job."

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As mentioned, Vingegaard managed to add an extra second onto his overnight lead over second placed Mikel Landa, the gap now being 13 seconds. Vingegaard isn't getting ahead of himself though, he's anticipating a hectic final day where he could have big battle on his hands.

"It's always a big mess, the last stage here," Vingegaard says with a wry smile. "I've done it now three times and every year was a big mess so tomorrow we'll just have to do everything we can to try and defend the jersey."

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🇪🇸 #Itzulia2023 Jonas 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 his leaders jersey. 💪

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