The stage around Amorebieta-Etxano near Bilbao, which was shortened to 164.5 km, was energy-sapping, featuring a number of short but steep climbs before the route ended with a demanding finishing lap. Before the final intermediate sprint, the race was all together but on the uncategorised climb immediately afterwards, a 20-man group with Sergio Higuita broke clear from the peloton. With 5km remaining, the leaders had a 15-second gap. With 200m to the finish line, Sergio launched his sprint and the Colombian was too fast to be caught. He thereby took the second stage win for BORA-hansgrohe in this year's race and also moves up to 8th place in the general classification.
Result
01 S. Higuita 3:59:57
02 A. Bagioli +0:00
03 M. Skjelmose +0:00
From the Finish Line
"It was a really tough stage today but I knew that I had a good chance to take a top result. I knew the finish well. In the finale, I saw the opportunity and knew that I had to take it. I went actually a little bit early, but in the end, I was strong enough to keep my lead and not be reeled back. I'm really happy to give the team a second stage win, and it's always nice to win at this race, as I have good memories here. After a few not so easy months, this stage victory, plus my podium at GP Indurain, has given me back more confidence. It's really motivating for me and the team." - Sergio Higuita
"We actually planned to put a rider in the breakaway, to have a relay station in the tough final, and with the objective of being numerically stronger for the classics-like finale. It didn't work out because only two riders were able to go clear today, so we then set everything up to support Sergio and Emu. That worked out well and the whole team put in a very good performance. I have to say that Florian Lipowitz played a huge part in our success today. He really went toe-to-toe with the big riders. In the end, Sergio was able to complete this strong teamwork in a really outstanding manner. We are very happy with this victory, especially after the unfortunate events of the third stage. Of course, this victory makes us very confident for the final stage. The form is there and tomorrow we'll ride strongly once again and try to come out with a great result in the general classification as well." - Christian Pömer, Sports Director