Dani Martinez takes overall victory at Tour of Basque Country, Ion Izaguirre thrills home fans with stage win

The Tour of the Basque Country rarely fails to excite and the final stage of 2022 was no different, with Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) taking glory after Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) blew up on the tough climbs. A matter of 24 hours earlier, it was Evenepoel who pounced on the problems suffered by Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) to take the yellow jersey going into the final stage. Ad/> The Queen Stage was always likely to be decisive, with a string of brutal climbs to contend with.

Itzulia Basque CountryVader to remain under observation in hospital following crash14 HOURS AGO Ineos controlled the pace for much of the stage, but Roglic took on a super-domestique role for team-mate Jonas Vingegaard and blew the race open with a stinging assault on the Krabelin with under 50km to run. Roglic’s move tested the legs of many, and left Evenepoel on the ropes. The Belgian and Martinez were dropped on the descent, but worked together to get back to an elite group heading to the foot of the final climb up the Usartza.

Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis) had an outside chance of overall glory, but his target was a stage win in front of his adoring Basque fans. Sagan to miss Paris-Roubaix with illness Vader to remain under observation in hospital Izaguirre kicked things off on the climb which immediately put Evenepoel in trouble — a hole he would never recover from. With Evenepoel distanced, Martinez had the race in the bag provided he avoided any trouble.