On a day with multiple crashes, Quinten Hermans emerged victorious in the third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country 2024. The Belgian Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was the fastest in the final pack after 190.9 kilometers between Ezpeleta and Altsasu.
Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) crashed on the demanding route, but was able to recover and remained at the top of the general classification. In the final kilometers, Juan Ayuso and Rigoberto Urán were also involved in a crash with many affected.
The day’s menu featured no less than six categorized climbs. The final climb Lizarrusti (6.4 km at 4.7%), had its summit 18 kilometers from the finish. This was followed by a flat finish.
The breakaway was led by Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), Tom Paquot (Intermarché – Wanty), Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Burgos-BH) and James Fouché (Euskaltel-Euskadi). The maximum advantage of the leading quartet was around four minutes.
Entering the final stage, the peloton was caught by surprise by a crash some forty kilometers from the finish. One of the victims was leader Primoz Roglic (BORA-hansgrohe). German Emanuel Buchmann and Italian Matteo Sobrero waited for him and brought him back to the peloton.
The favorites stayed calm and climbed at pace on the final climb. Before the top, Louis Meintjes accelerated, the South African Intermarché-Wanty rider was the first to cross the categorized pass, but his advantage was limited. A few kilometers later, the peloton caught him.
With eight kilometers to go there was an intermediate sprint. Remco Evenepoel crossed first, ahead of Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegeaard, who took three, two and one second bonuses respectively.
In the lead-up to the sprint, there was a heavy crash involving Brandon McNulty, Mattias Skjelmose, Rigoberto Urán and Juan Ayuso, among others. Because the tangle took place in the last three kilometers, those involved in the incident did not lose time.
In the final sprint, Quinten Hermans proved to have the fastest legs. The Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck came out with a lot of speed and managed to beat Italian Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain – Victorious) and Spaniard Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team).
The Itzulia will continue this Thursday with the fourth stage, another leg-breaking day that will take the riders from Etxarri Aranatz to Legutio, along 157.5 kilometers with four categorized passes, three of them in the final part.
Itzulia Basque Country 2024 (2.UWT)
Results stage 3 | Ezpeleta – Altsasu (190,9 km)
| 1 | Quinten Hermans | Alpecin – Deceuninck | 4:40:59 |
| 2 | Edoardo Zambanini | Bahrain – Victorious | ,, |
| 3 | Alex Aranburu | Movistar Team | ,, |
| 4 | Davide De Pretto | Team Jayco AlUla | ,, |
| 5 | Nikias Arndt | Bahrain – Victorious | ,, |
| 6 | Ethan Hayter | INEOS Grenadiers | ,, |
| 7 | Romain Grégoire | Groupama – FDJ | ,, |
| 8 | Kévin Vauquelin | Arkéa – B&B Hotels | ,, |
| 9 | Vito Braet | Intermarché – Wanty | ,, |
| 10 | Valentin Retailleau | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Primož Roglič | BORA – hansgrohe | 8:36:01 |
| 2 | Remco Evenepoel | Soudal Quick-Step | 0:07 |
| 3 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl – Trek | 0:10 |
| 4 | Juan Ayuso | UAE Team Emirates | 0:14 |
| 5 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ,, |
| 6 | Kévin Vauquelin | Arkéa – B&B Hotels | 0:16 |
| 7 | Maximilian Schachmann | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 8 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | 0:23 |
| 9 | Bruno Armirail | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 0:24 |
| 10 | Pello Bilbao | Bahrain – Victorious | 0:25 |
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico