After the first four stages of the Itzulia Basque Country road cycling race in Spain, Jumbo-Visma leader Primoz Roglic holds a 5-second lead in the general classification.
Sepp Kuss is 37th, 6 minutes and 43 seconds behind Roglic.
Roglic began the tour by winning the 7.51-kilometer time trial by five seconds and has worn the yellow jersey since. After the fourth stage on Thursday, Roglic still held a five-second lead, with Remco Evenepoel of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl his closest competitor. Daniel Felipe Martinez of INEOS Grenadiers was third, 11 seconds behind Roglic.
In the 208-kilometer Stage 2, the longest of the tour, Jumbo-Visma helped control the peloton, which eventually caught a group of four Spaniards that charged out to an early lead. Julian Alaphilippe of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl eventually won the stage in 5:04:35, but Roglic finished 13th in the same time. Kuss also finished in the peloton in the same time as the leaders in 41st.
During the 181-kilometer stage Wednesday, a steep hill broke up the peloton, but Roglic and teammate Jonas Vingegaard were in a group of 16 that took the lead. Pello Bilbao beat Alaphilippe in a sprint to the finish, but Roglic held on to the leader’s jersey with a seventh-place finish in the same time, 4:35:24. Vingegaard crossed ninth in the same time while Kuss finished 2:25 later in 40th.
Vingegaard moved into sixth in the GC after Stage 3,18 seconds behind Roglic’s 9:49:47. Milan Vader was 26th, 2:58 behind Roglic. Kuss was 37th, 3:15 back.
Wednesday’s results also gave Jumbo-Visma a four-second lead over INEOS Grenadiers in the team race 29:32:39.
On Thursday, the cyclists raced 185.6-kilometers. Martinez won with a strong sprint over the last 150 meters, but Roglic finished right behind him, crossing fourth in the same time to hold on to the GC lead.
Vingegaard finished 22nd in the same time while Kuss and Vader finished 47th and 48th 3:28 later.
The tour’s fifth stage on Friday will be 163.8 kilometers long. The Itzulia Basque Country will conclude Saturday with a 135.7-kilometer stage.
