Romo explains his crash just as he caught Seixas and Lipowitz on Itzulia queen stage

Javier Romo (Movistar) started the queen stage of Itzulia Basque Country sitting 12th overall at 3:56 behind race leader Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), with his Belgian teammate and team leader Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) in 9th at 3:21. 

When Seixas went clear with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on the slopes of Izua with 29km remaining, it looked set to be a battle between the duo and maybe Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who was lurking just a few seconds back. 

Therefore, it was a bit out of the blue when Romo rocketed into the view of the TV cameras and past Roglič, and towards the front duo. The Movistar rider quickly bridged his way across the gap and looked to have done the hardest part, giving him an opportunity to fight for the stage win, with a predominantly downhill run-in.

"I saw on the Garmin that there was a kilometre and a half left and I saw that they were pulling away, but I thought I could catch them," Romo explained to CyclingProNet at the finish in Eibar.

However, no sooner than he made contact, Romo was on the ground, having crashed after clipping the wheel of Lipowitz in front. Romo explained the unfortunate moment at the finish line.

“I did reach them, right at the top, but then a fan clearly wanting to help gave me a little bump, which threw me off balance and well, I went into the wheel of Lipowitz, and I fell to the ground, and well then I had to fight back," explained Romo. 

And fight back he did. The Spanish rider quickly remounted and joined Roglič in pursuit of the front duo. It wasn't to be a fruitful chase, as they were caught by the group containing most of the GC chasers behind. 

Though Romo tried his hand with a late attack in the streets of Eibar, just kilometres from the finish line. "They caught us from behind in the end, and I said, ‘Okay, I have to give it my all and try to get third,'" said Romo.

It was a successful attack which saw Romo take 3rd on the stage, 1:03 behind stage winner Seixas who outsprinted Lipowitz. With the bonus seconds for 3rd place plus the eight seconds he picked up on the chasing pack, Romo moved up into the top 10 overall, at 5:05 behind Seixas. 

The Spanish rider was happy with the outcome and the fact that his team leader, Uijtdebroeks, also moved up two spots to 7th overall.

“Yes, as I said, very happy because above all, I’m feeling good. We came here with Cian as leader, and I’m able to be with him, and well, today, I felt superb," said Romo.

With the one final crucial stage for the GC remaining, and with rain on the forecast, Romo takes confidence from his strong showing on Friday.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t like the rain, but I think compared to other rivals, it might actually work in my favour. The truth is, I think I manage it well, and that’s just how it is. So I guess I’ll have to take the plunge," said Romo.