12th April – Stage 6: Urduña – Gernika-Lumo
The final day of racing in Itzulia saw the peloton tackle multiple climbs throughout the day and with the GC battle set to be decided; the action was on from the flag drop. Juan Martinez and Warren Barguil made it into the break of the day for the team, acting as a possible bridge for Oscar Onley later in the day. With the strong break, it meant the pace was high throughout and once the rain began to fall in the last two hours it became a proper race of attrition. Barguil and Martinez were caught and helped Onley with what they could, who himself had been well positioned by the rest of the team. From there, Onley fought hard over the remaining hills and down the tricky descents, sprinting from his group to a solid eighth place result on the stage and moving up to ninth on GC.
Team Picnic PostNL coach Phil West said: “Today we wanted to create a situation where Oscar could move up on the GC, and that we could also race for the stage. We knew from last year that is a really tough stage and one that could suit him, so we worked out how best to support that. We looked to put a few guys in the break so that we could be there later in the race when it opened up. Warren and Juan did well to get in the group of 20 riders so we were represented there. For the rest of the guys it was about positioning, being efficient and saving as much energy as possible for the key climb of the day. We knew the race would open there and it was a case of who had the legs. There was a big fight over the climb and the racing was on from then. He stayed calm and did a good job, and also managed to make a move in the final to take a top ten on the stage and move up to ninth on GC; which is a commendable effort. Overall I’m happy with the week and things are going in the right direction ahead of the Ardennes coming up.”
