photo credits @ Itzulia
João Almeida claimed the sixth and final stage of the Itzulia Basque Country today, earning the Portuguese rider not only the day’s honors but the overall victory as well.
After shredding the GC field on a brutally tough day Almeida attacked from a small lead group with 5.5kms to go, later outsprinting Enric Mas (Movistar), while Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) finished third, 13 seconds back.
In the end, Almeida stood highest on the final podium, with Mas moving up second place on GC thanks to his strong last day of racing, followed by early leader Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep) who claimed the last spot.
UAE Team Emirates dominated today’s rain-soaked stage that featured early 4,000 meters of vertical climbing, as Almeida tore apart a reduced peloton on the race’s hardest ascent, the cat.1 Izua, followed by a relentless pursuit of lone breakaway Healy.
Having caught the Irishman 20 kilometers from the line, Almeida then followed Mas when the Movistar rider raised the pace on a short uphill finish in Ermua.
From there, he outsprinted his Spanish rival to earn his first WorldTour stage win since the Tour de Pologne back in 2021.
Earlier, Healy had been part of a large breakaway group before he launched an attack just ahead of the Izua, taking Callum Scotson and Dani Martínez with him. But, Healy later attacked again, leaving his fellow escapees behind. However, with 20 kilometers to go, Healy was finally caught along the final climb of the Trabakua.
