It was a heart-pounding finale, uncertain until the very last meter on the Galdako climb, but Alex Aranburu believed until the end and claimed the fourth stage of the Basque Country Tour. For the Cofidis team athlete, it was a day of constant attacks that was decided in an uphill sprint in which he beat Tobias Halland Johannessen (Team Uno X) and Christian Scaroni (Team XDS Astana). In the final moments, we also witnessed a descent attack by Paul Seixas that allowed him to gain ground on his direct rivals.

THE RACE. The fourth stage of the Basque Country Tour covered 167.2 kilometers with start and finish in Galdako. It was an active stage with 7 categorized climbs and a brutal final climb, with gradients reaching 13% that led all the way to the finish line. Following Isaac del Toro's withdrawal yesterday, the Basque stage race had to say goodbye to other potential protagonists who were forced to abandon the race due to a crash: Roger Adria (Movistar Team), Juan Ayuso (Lidl Trek) and Sergio Higuita (Team Xds Astana).

After the first 40 kilometers of relative calm, the race began to heat up and on the Jata climb Brandon McNulty (Uae Team Emirates XRG) launched a solo attack that lasted several tens of kilometers and ended 35 kilometers from the finish. Meanwhile, behind the American athlete, a group of 34 pursuers formed: Steff Cras and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quickstep), Lorenzo Fortunato and Christian Scaroni (Team XDS Astana), Guillaume Martin, Clement Braz Afonso and Quentin Pacher (Groupama FDJ United), Felix Grosschartner and Marc Soler (Uae Team Emirates XRG), Julien Bernard and Quinn Simmons (Lidl Trek), Haimar Etxeberria and Luke Tuckell (Red Bull Bora), Carlos Garcia Pierna (Burgos Burpellet BH), Juan Pedro Lopez and Raul Garcia Pierna (Team Movistar), Matthew Dinham and Bjorn Koerdt (PicNic PostNL), Ramses Debruyne, Emiel Verstryneg and Gal Glivar (Alpecin PremierTech), Fabian Weiss (Team Tudor), Alex Aranburu (Team Cofidis), Txomin Juaristi, Jonathan Lastra and Gotzon Martin (Euskaltel Euskadi), Ben Healy and Jardi Christiaan Van Der Lee (Ef Education Easy Post), Victor Langellotti (Team Ineos), Tim Rex (Team Visma Lease a Bike), Magnus Cort, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Anders Halland Johannessen and Andreas Kron (Team Uno x Mobility). The group seemed ready to go clear, but a strong push by Team Bahrain Victorious during the long flat section after the first passage through the finish line brought the peloton very close to the breakaway riders.

During the second ascent of the Elorritxueta climb, the breakaway group completely fell apart, while among the general classification contenders Florian Lipowitz tried several times to put Seixas in difficulty without managing to make a difference.

The race heated up on the Legina climb, the day's final categorized ascent. After attacks from Juan Pedro Lopez, it was Alex Aranburu and Tobias Halland Johannessen who gained a small advantage and crested first. Between the two athletes there was never great cooperation and so the small group of pursuers led by Lorenzo Fortunato and Christian Scaroni managed to keep the two breakaway riders in check. Everything was decided on the final climb: Scaroni with an attack about 600 meters out brought himself back to the leading pair, but Aranburu responded well to the Brescia rider's move and went on to claim victory.

In the general classification group, Team Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe did excellent work on the last two climbs of the day, but was completely caught off guard by an attack from Paul Seixas on the descent after Legina. The strong French athlete, accompanied by Igor Arrieta (Uae Team Emirates XG), Pello Bibao (Bahrain Victorious) and Ion Izaguirre (Team Cofidis), managed to rejoin the front of the race right on the final climb and, despite finishing "only" eighth, succeeded in gaining ground on his direct rivals.

Tomorrow the fifth stage is scheduled, 176.2 kilometers with start and finish in Eibar. It's the queen stage with 8 categorized climbs and 3,800 meters of elevation gain. If Team Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe wants to try to win the general classification, they will have to go all out to dethrone the very strong Paul Seixas.

STAGE RESULTS

1 Aranburu Alex Cofidis 03:55:15

2 Johannessen Tobias Halland Uno-X Mobility + 04

3 Scaroni Christian XDS Astana Team + 06

4 Izagirre Ion Cofidis + 07

5 Martin-Guyonnet Guillaume Groupama-FDJ United + 13

6 Bilbao Pello Bahrain Victorious + 14

7 Lopez Juan Pedro Movistar Team + 14

8 Seixas Paul Decathlon CMA CGM Team + 14

9 Fortunato Lorenzo XDS Astana Team + 17

10 Arrieta Igor UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 24

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Seixas Paul Decathlon CMA CGM Team 12:03:53

2 Roglic Primoz Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 02:19

3 Lipowitz Florian Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 02:28

4 Izagirre Ion Cofidis + 02:29

5 Skjelmose Mattias Lidl-Trek + 02:34

6 Tulett Ben Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 02:47

7 Baudin Alex EF Education-EasyPost + 02:51

8 Tejada Harold XDS Astana Team + 03:08

9 Uijtdebroeks Cian Movistar Team + 03:21

10 Champoussin Clément XDS Astana Team + 03:22