Emanuel Buchmann took the overall lead in the Tour of the Basque Country on Friday by winning the fifth stage in Arrate.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider attacked on the penultimate ascent and held on to see off the challenge of Ion Izagirre (Astana), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana).
“It’s incredible. It’s already the fourth stage win for us, and on the queen stage, and now with the leader’s jersey, it’s really cool,” Buchmann said in a post-race flash interview.
“We will try everything tomorrow to defend the jersey. We have a really strong team here – maybe the strongest team in the race. Tomorrow will be another really hard day; everyone else will try and win this race so that it won’t be easy. But we have a strong team, and I’m optimistic.”
The victory means Buchmann moves ahead of his team-mate Maximilian Schachmann, who drops to third. Izagirre sits in second place, 54 seconds off the lead.
The race’s final stage on Saturday should provide plenty of opportunities for other riders to challenge Buchmann in the race for the overall title.
?♂️? ¡Otra más para el Bora! ??Emanuel Buchmann se hace con el triunfo en Arrate.#Itzulia
Sigue la @ehitzulia en @Eurosport_ES y https://t.co/fLW7LTy0zL pic.twitter.com/WHAeIfsRGr
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) April 12, 2019
Tour of the Basque Country 2019 – stage 5 results (Arrigorriaga – Arrate):
| 1 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | 3:44:04 |
| 2 | Ion Izagirre (Astana) | +01’12” |
| 3 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’14” |
| 4 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | +01’18” |
| 5 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +01’34” |
| 6 | Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 7 | Mikel Landa (Movistar) | +02’00” |
| 8 | Lucas Hamilton (Mitchelton-Scott) | +02’14” |
| 9 | Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 10 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
Tour of the Basque Country 2019 – general classification after stage 5:
| 1 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | 16:23:30 |
| 2 | Ion Izagirre (Astana) | +54” |
| 3 | Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’04” |
| 4 | Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) | +01’32” |
| 5 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | ,, |
| 6 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’55” |
| 7 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’56” |
| 8 | Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) | +02’11” |
| 9 | Mikel Landa (Movistar) | +02’25” |
| 10 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
