Primoz Roglic, King of the Basque Country. – Ion Alcoba Beitia / Sipa
This will not console Primoz Roglic, the great defeat of the last Great Loop. But the Slovenian clinched the final victory in the Tour of the Basque Country at the end of the last stage won by Frenchman David Gaudu on Saturday in Eibar. The leader of Jumbo-Visma (31 years old) this time lectured his young compatriot Tadej Pogacar (22 years old) for their first face-to-face in a stage race since the Tour de France 2020, when “Pogi” had knocked down Roglic the day before the finish.
Already a winner in 2018, Roglic played tactically against Pogacar, trapped in a descent 60 kilometers from the finish like his teammate Brandon McNulty (UAE), wearing the leader’s jersey in the general classification.
Sixth victory for Gaudu
David Gaudu, Thibaut Pinot’s ex-lieutenant, signs his sixth victory, once again in Spain after his two successes in the fall in the Vuelta where he was aligned as leader of the Groupama-FDJ team.
This sixth and last particularly compact (112 km) and hilly stage (seven climbs for 3,500 meters of elevation gain) was conducive to a movement race well before the final climb of Arrate. The decisive offense was initiated by the Astana team in a descent before the halfway point … but it was Primoz Roglic that it took advantage, one of the leaders having sensed an opportunity like Alejandro Valverde or therefore David Gaudu .
Double for the Jumbo
The gap quickly rose to around thirty seconds. McNulty didn’t keep pace on the next climb and Pogacar set off without the American chasing Roglic who picked up the pace. So much so that only Frenchman David Gaudu and Briton Hugh Carthy, third in the last Vuelta, were able to keep pace.
Carthy could not respond in the final climb of Arrate to the attack of Gaudu to whom Roglic left the stage for services rendered. Pogacar, arrived with 35 seconds of disbursements, was classified third overall, behind two riders of the Jumbo-Visma, since the Dane Jonas Vingegaard was inserted between the two Slovenes.