Itzulia Basque Country: Daniel Martínez wins overall as Ion Izagirre snatches scintillating final stage

Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers) won the overall after a thrilling final stage of Itzulia Basque Country on Sunday

The Colombian placed fourth out of a five-rider group to secure the second GC victory of his career after winning the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2020 and cap an all-attacking week by his Ineos Grenadiers team.

Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) won the five rider sprint for the stage after crashing on the final ascent and hauling himself back to the lead group with a speedy kilometer-long uphill chase.

“I am overjoyed. Because of the fall I thought everything was lost,” said Basque local Izagirre. “Winning here, in Arrate, is a great way to end Itzulia. It happened in the presence of my family and friends and as always I had a lot of support from the fans. I am very happy that I finished the race.”

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished second on the stage, Marc Soler (UAE Emirates) third.

Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) lost his delicate grip on the overall just 5km from the line when a flurry of attacks on the final Arrate climb put him out the back of the GC group and off the final podium.

Evenepoel limited his losses to finish 24 seconds back, but it wasn’t enough to salvage his race. The young Belgian finished fourth overall as Izagirre and Vlasov shuffled up to second and third respectively.

🏆 Magnificent Martinez! 🏆⁰

It’s an immense ride from @danifmartinez96 who wraps up a superb team performance by sealing our first-ever GC victory at #Itzulia 🙌🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/nnEmvJSAJE

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) April 9, 2022

Krabellin up-and-over splits the classification groups

Saturday’s stage stacked seven categorized climbs and more than 3,500m ascent into an explosive 135km day that more-than lived up to its fearsome profile.

The final hour of action saw a series of attacks, cracks, splits and reformations on a parcours that made for a playground for attacks.

It wouldn’t be #Itzulia without the Arrate stage! pic.twitter.com/E4wCtjPNxJ

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) April 9, 2022

Roglič let up the race on the extra-steep Krabellin climb at 40km to go as final breakaway riders Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) and Davide Formolo (UAE Emirates) remained two minutes ahead.

Evenepoel was dropped for the first time on the gnarled Krabellin ascent as a 12-rider GC group fractured under accelerations from Enric Mas (Movistar) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). Martínez made the split, leaving Evenepoel isolated and in trouble.

The GC groups realigned after Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) animated a high-speed descent off the Krabellin summit.

Mas and his breakaway teammate Olivera both crashed, while Vingegaard, Izagirre, Vlasov and Bilbao bridged to Formolo to form a leading five.

Mas was able to get back on the bike but was left way out of the frame, while Olivera was reported to have abandoned.

😔 Caída de @EnricMasNicolau en el descenso de Ixua, cuando marchaba con el grupo de favoritos por delante del líder Evenepoel (QST). #itzulia pic.twitter.com/7Ic4NJsmp1

— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) April 9, 2022

Evenepoel managed to catch back to the second GC group on the Krabellin downhill, leaving the Belgian in the wheel of Martínez and five others.

Martínez and Evenepoel were both motivated to catch back to closest rivals Izagirre and Bilbao as their 20 second overnight GC lead dangled in the balance.

The twosome made a two-up TT out of their group and bridged to the leaders to put Formolo and the top-6 on GC all together ahead of the infamous Arrate climb.

Classification comes down to the Arrate ascent

Formolo took advantage of being out of GC reckoning and attacked early on the Arrate as the classification contenders eyed each other.

Izagirre and Vlasov both pressured their GC rivals on the lower slopes of the climb and Evenepoel cracked just 5km from the line. Bilbao was the next off the back, and Martínez, Soler, Izagirre and Vlasov rode away and bridged to Formolo.

Izagirre hit the deck when he touched wheels with Vingegaard after the Dane made a swerving uphill move.

The Basque veteran made a searing uphill pursuit and managed to catch back ahead of the Arrate summit, leaving the Cofidis captain with Vlasov, Vingegaard, Soler and Martínez heading toward the final downward-tilting sprint.

El enganchón de Vingegaard con Ion Izagirre 💥
🏆 @BancoSabadell #itzulia pic.twitter.com/4Xwz6iqxMO

— Itzulia Basque Country (@ehitzulia) April 9, 2022

Soler surged first as the line reared into view, but Izagirre came off his wheel at 200m to go to snatch his first win since joining Cofidis this winter.