08/04/2022

Itzulia Basque Country: Carlos Rodríguez wins from the breakaway as Roglic fades in GC

It was a tough day out in Itzulia Basque Country as the GC played out again, Primoz Roglic failed to respond to the offensive in the penultimate climb today and has lost the race lead whilst Carlos Rodríguez took his first professional win after a successful breakaway.

It was a very complicated start to the day, as many riders tried to get themselves in front as the day was pointed towards a breakaway win. It took around 70 kilometers for a group to go up the road, containing Pello Bilbao who was a big threat for the GC, but the Basque let go the group and came back to the peloton, finally letting a breakaway get a leash to go in front. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Sergio Samitier (Movistar Team), Lucas Hamilton (Team BikeExchange - Jayco) Kenny Elissonde (Trek - Segafredo) and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma).

Olav Kooij wins final Circuit Cycliste Sarthe stage

Soler and Rodríguez went clear from the group with 60 kilometers the group as the pace tightened in front, but with Soler hanging only a minute down on Roglic, the chase was fierce towards the bottom of the penultimate climb. Whilst Rodríguez went solo in front as he was not working with Soler, the attacks came behind.

Evenepoel launched another move, but this time without Primoz Roglic trying to follow. The race leader let a group go with Evenepoel, Vingegaard, Mas, Vlasov, Ion Izagirre, Bilbao and Martínez; seemingly not moving so as to not cover moves, but completely missing out on the attack that has ultimately dealt a blow to his GC ambitions.

Carlos Rodríguez had a tough time keeping his gap as he rode towards the finale alone, but he had the legs and managed to hold the gap to the chasing group in the brutally steep final ramp. Daniel Martínez came right after making it a one-two for the team, leading the GC group in in front of Remco Evenepoel.

Vlasov and Vingegaard crashed in the steep final meters loosing some seconds, whilst Roglic lost over a minute, arriving in the middle of the chasing group.