Aranburu claims thrilling Itzulia stage 4 as Seixas extends lead

Stage 4 of Itzulia went to the breakaway for the consecutive day as Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) won a thrilling finale in Galdakao after out-gunning Tobias Johanessen (Uno-X Mobility) on the uphill kick to the line. Paul Seixas attacked on the final descent and took a handful of seconds to extend his GC margin even further.

After the break's success the previous day, several riders tried their luck early on, with over 30 riders going clear of the pack. Tobias Johanneseen (Uno-X), Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Magnus Cort (Uno-X), and Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) were among the dangermen. 

Meanwhile, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) was forced to abandon the race with illness.

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was also a part of the aforementioned group and he would solo off the front, taking a healthy margin on his erstwhile companions. Back in the peloton, Decathlon CMA CGM worked well to control the huge group on behalf of Paul Seixas.

That race situation remained the same over the middle portion of the stage until just over 35km from the line, when McNulty was caught by the large group of chasers behind and the race truly ignited.

A battle ensued on the Vivero, with the climb featuring max gradients of just shy of 10%, and the attacks rolled throughout the climb from the riders at the head of the race, with the likes of Soler and Johannesen trying to get a gap, to no avail. By the top, however, the front group was down to just 11 riders.

The peloton's chances of stage victory hung in the balance, but that didn't dissuade attacks, including one from Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), but Seixas was alert to any danger.

After descending the Vivero, Soler shot off the front with young talent Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Anders Halland Johanessen (Uno-X), and the trio took a marginal gap over the chasing group behind.

With 15km to go, Anders Johanessen went solo with one obstacle of the day remaining, the Legina, but he was pinned back on the climb. Aranburu attacked soon afterwards, and he had Anders' twin brother, Tobias Johanessen for company, with the duo set to battle for the stage win.

Aranburu took advantage of local knowledge on the descent and gapped Johannessen, but the Norwegian came back to him again and the reached the flamme rouge and the final kick to the line together. A stand-out ensued there that allowed Scaroni to bridge across, with Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United) also getting close.

Aranburu kept his cool, however, and produced a thumping kick to deliver the goods. Behind, Seixas forced his way clear of the GC group having led them into the final kilometre. The Frenchman gained another 20 seconds on his overall rivals, and he now leads Primoz Roglic (Red Bull) by 2:19 with Lipowitz third at 2:28.

Stage 5 continues on Friday with a punchy day around Eibar, where Seixas might again be to the fore.