Seixas saves Itzulia Basque Country title as AJ August wins rain-lashed final stage

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) sealed overall victory at Itzulia Basque Country after a breathless, rain-soaked final stage won by AJ August (Ineos) in Bergara. 

August attacked from the front group near the top of the final climb of Astenzio with 12.3km to go. He was initially followed by Raul García Pierna (Movistar), but he dropped the Spaniard with a kilometre of the ascent remaining. 

The American managed the treacherous descent smoothly to claim the second win of his pro career after a stage of this year’s Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. 

García Pierna took second on the stage, 16 seconds down on August, while Frank van den Broeck (Picnic-PostNL) won the sprint for third ahead of Gal Glivar (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

The remnants of the front group spilled across the line in ones and twos, with Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) doing enough to move onto the final podium.

Seixas came home alongside Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull), 4:15 down on August and just over three minutes down on Johannessen, enough to secure the yellow jersey.

Seixas was a deserved overall winner as the week’s outstanding performer, but he will take lessons from this attritional final day. Although Seixas again impressed with his strength on stage 6, his 40km solo attempt to bridge up to the break of the day was perhaps as ill-advised as it was brave.

But all’s well that ends well. The Frenchman had the nous to knock off his effort ahead of the final climb once it became clear that the dangerman Johannessen would not threaten his leader’s jersey, and he managed his deficit smartly thereafter.

Lipowitz secured second overall, 2:30 behind Seixas, while Johannessen moved up eight places to third, 2:33 off the Frenchman. It was a disappointing afternoon for Lipowitz's Red Bull teammate Primoz Roglic, who plummeted down the standings when he was distanced amid the attacking the precipated Seixas' solo effort with 55km to go.

The heavens opened shortly after the peloton left the start in Antzuola, setting the tone for a dizzying and attritional day of racing on the final stage of Itzulia Basque Country. 

The break of the day took shape over the top of the opening climb of Asentzio, with Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) forging clear.

They would be joined by Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) and Peter Øxenberg (Ineos) over the second climb of the Elosua, but the real drama was taking place behind, where Uno-X Mobility forced a split in the peloton for Johannessen.

The Norwegian was part of a group of 30 riders that opened a hefty gap over the Decathlon-led peloton. Matthew Riccitello was on board, ostensibly as a policeman for Seixas, but this was a race that risked spiralling out of control.

With 100km to go, the five leaders had 1:20 in hand on the Johannessen group and three minutes on the peloton, and that situation persisted over the second time up the Elosua.

The situation changed on the second time up the Azkarate, where Healy, Soler and Skjelmose attacked one another in turn, shaking off their companions. 

Back in the yellow group, meanwhile, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull) attacked in a bid to put Seixas under pressure, and his efforts sparked a split in that group. Seixas, however, figured that defence was the best form of attack, and he accelerated clear of his GC rivals with 55km to go.

It was an ambitious move, particularly with a long valley in the headwind to come before the final climb up Astenzio, but Seixas stuck to his task, closing to within two minutes of the leaders. He had Steff Cras for company, but the Soudal Quick-Step rider was understandably unwilling to help his chase, and when Seixas dropped a gel, his morale seemed to drop a touch too. 

In time, his deficit to the front of the race began to expand again, and it would reach 3:11 by the foot of the final climb up Astenzio with 18km to go, by which point he had been joined by a sizeable chasing group that featured Lipowitz.

Out in front, Healy, Skjelmose and Soler had been swept up ahead of Astenzio by the Johannessen group, which now numbered 20 riders, with UAE’s Felix Grossschartner and Domen Novak joining Uno-X in piling on the pressure. Johannessen, who began the day five minutes down on Seixas, was now within two minutes of the overall lead, but the Frenchman had enough of a buffer and enough allies to keep control of the situation.