April 9, 2026
The repetitive nature of the climbs is what will be the main problem for riders today. The start and finish of Stage 4 is just outside of Bilbao in Galdakao and will cover 167 km and over 3,100 meters of elevation. There are seven categorized climbs on course with the hardest climbs coming in the final 70 km of the stage. With 67 km to go, the riders will pass the finish line in Galdakao which is a 1km ramp at 7.5%. They continue climbing this time through however for another 7 km at around 5%. A 20 km flat section through Lezama follows which leads into El Vivero, a 4.3 km climb at over 8%. After a descent and another flat section of around 8 km, the riders will pass through a bonus sprint in Urrejola and immediately start the Legina, a 3.2 km ascent at over 8% with a 1 km stretch at over 12%. The top comes 8 km from the finish, most of which is downhill before taking on the 1 km ramp to the line for the last time.
Race Summary
Temperatures were slightly cooler at 22C (72F) with some haze in the air but the pace of the race was rapid and aggressive. A break of over 30 riders got away and with 68 km to go on the approach to the passage of the finish line, they had 1 minute 40 seconds on the peloton with the lone figure of Brandon McNulty of UAE-XRG leading the race at 3 minutes 30 seconds in front of the bunch. Decathlon CMA CGM were leading the peloton but weren't particularly troubled because the best placed of any rider up front was Clément Braz Afonso of Groupama-FDJ United who started the day 4 minutes down and was still over 2 minutes behind in the virtual GC. The biggest names in the chase group were Marc Soler, Felix Großschartner, Quinn Simmons, Tobias Johannessen, Alex Aranburu, Jardi Van Der Lee, Ben Healy, and Lorenzo Fortunato, all serious contenders for the stage win.
By the top of El Vivero with 60 km to go, McNulty had extended his lead to 2 minutes 15 seconds on the chase and 4 minutes 15 seconds to the peloton. Bahrain Victorious went to the front in the peloton and started to chase quite hard. When the descent flattened out with 51 km to go, the time gaps were closing in for the first time. With five riders in the chase group, Uno-X Mobility were driving into the gap and had brought McNulty back to 1 minute 40 seconds. Bahrain Victorious were also making in-roads at just 3 minutes 20 seconds down.
As good of a time trialist as McNulty is, the collective power of the chase group was simply stronger on the flat roads. McNulty let off the gas and was caught with 36 km to go, just 2 km from the base of the next ascent of El Vivero. Uno-X Mobility piled on the pressure to get to El Vivero as far ahead of the peloton as they could but the bunch were also charging for position, knowing the tricky nature of the climb and started the ascent just 90 seconds behind.
Quinn Simmons of Lidl-Trek was the first attacker from the lead group on the first flat section of the climb. The group was reduced but at least 20 riders made their way back on. It wasn't long before the next move went with Tobias Johannessen but the elastic didn't snap and around 10 riders went over the top together at 28.5 km from the finish, still with 80 seconds on the peloton. In the bunch, Decathlon CMA CGM were running out of support riders for Paul Seixas and there were a few attacks from Florian Lipowitz of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Kévin Vauquelin of Ineos but Seixas had the match of everyone and crested El Vivero with all of the GC favorites together.
The lead group swelled slightly on the descent but Marc Soler of UAE-XRG split the group when the road flattened. Luke Tuckwell of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe went with him and Anders Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility bridged up to make three at the front with 18 km to go. Anders Johannessen pulled through but only did half turns because his brother was sitting in the group behind at 15 seconds. At this point, the chase group contained Tobias Johannessen, Mauri Vansevenant of Soudal Quickstep, Alex Aranburu of Cofidis, Clément Braz Afonso and Guillaume Martin of Groupama-FDJ United, Emiel Verstrynge of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Juan Pedro López of Movistar, and Christian Scaroni and Lorenzo Fortunato of XDS-Astana.
Soler was fed up with the work rate of his companions and tried to escape but he was countered by Anders Johannessen who went clear with 15 km to go. Soler and Tuckwell were reabsorbed into the Tobias Johannessen group as XDS-Astana and Groupama-FDJ United doing the work to stay clear of the peloton. Meanwhile in the bunch, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Decathlon CMA CGM, and EF-Education EasyPost were setting the pace to keep everyone up front in check. When Anders Johannessen reached Legina with 12 km to go, he had 15 seconds on the chase and 1 minute 20 seconds on the peloton.
Once on Legina, everything was happening at the same time. Anders Johannessen was caught by J.P. López with Tobias Johannessen and Aranburu on his wheel. 1,300 meters from the top, the front group swelled a bit and looked around. On a short flat section, Aranburu hit the group with speed from the back in a brilliant tactical move which gave immediatley gave him a lead of 50 meters. Tobias Johannessen went after Aranburu and the pair went over the top together about 15 seconds ahead of J.P. López, Martin, Scaroni, and Fortunato. In the peloton, Primož Roglič of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe moved to the front for the first time and started to set a strong pace which trimmed the group down to around 10 riders who went crested Legina together.
The descent was full of flat corners that bent back on themselves and Tobias Johannessen momentarily lost contact with Aranburu who flew down like he was on rails. Johannessen had to time trial has way back to Aranburu and managed to do so with 4 km remaining. They linked up and had 24 seconds on the chase with 3 km of flat before the final ramp. Johannessen led into the final uphill kilometer with 14 seconds on the chase and 30 seconds to a group that included race leader Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM, Igor Arrieta of UAE-XRG, Ion Izagirre of Cofidis, and Pello Bilbao of Bahrain Victorious who broke away from the rest of the peloton on the technical descent off Legina. Scaroni attacked the chase group and bridged up to the two leaders at 300 meters to go with Martin on his wheel. Out of nowhere, Izagirre came flying up the climb out of the Seixas group and joined the leaders at 200 meters to go. Johannessen saw him coming and opened his sprint. A small gap formed to Scaroni, Martin, and Izagirre but Aranburu was attentive and straight on the wheel. At just 50 meters from the line, Aranburu kicked passed Johannessen and came across the line with outstretched arms for his first victory of 2026. Johannessen had enough space from Scaroni to coast across for second with the Italian in next for third.
In the GC chase group, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe were forced to chase down the Seixas/Izagirre group with Tuckwell who was in the break all day. When everyone crossed the line and times were calculated, Seixas had put another 20 seconds into Lipowitz and Roglič. Seixas now leads Roglič by 2 minutes 19 seconds and Lipowitz by 2 minutes 28 seconds. The strong ride from Izagirre today vaulted him up from seventh to fourth overall, now just 1 second off the Lipowitz and the podium.