After a grueling day the day before at the Tour of the Basque Country, Hugo Houle (Israel – Premier Tech) felt much better on Thursday as he pedaled the 185.6 kilometer route between the cities of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zamudio, Spain .
“The race went much better than yesterday (Wednesday). My stomach held up, my osteopath helped me after yesterday’s race to relax my muscles. I was able to eat well, so everything went back to normal,” assured Houle.
The cyclist from Sainte-Perpétue finally finished 76th (+6 minutes 34 seconds) in a small group of eight riders.
“I applied the game plan to the letter to get our leader to a good place in the peloton and I slowed down afterwards to save myself for the next two stages. I finished quietly to make sure that my health is there tomorrow (Friday). »
The best Quebec result of the day went to Houle’s teammate, James Piccoli, who finished the race 3 minutes 38 seconds behind the winner, in 44th place. Piccoli, Houle and the other members of Israel – Premier Tech supported Ontario’s Michael Woods who finally took 30th place, at the same time as the winner.
“It’s fun to see Michael Woods perform well. He is happy to see that the form is progressing on the right side. These are encouraging signs, he looks very good and it’s pleasant to work with him,” added Houle about his teammate.
For his part, Antoine Duchesne (Groupama – FJD) ranked 99th (+9 minutes 6 seconds).
Colombian Daniel Felipe Martinez (INEOS Grenadiers) won the sprint event just ahead of Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) who finished second for a second consecutive day, he who had also won a stage on Tuesday. The Italian Diego Ulissi (UAE Emirates) completes the top-3.
In the provisional general classification, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), fourth of the day, still sits at the top. The Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) always follows him by 5 seconds. Thanks to his stage victory, Daniel Felipe Martinez jumped five places to find himself in third place (+10 seconds).
The Tour of the Basque Country will continue on Friday with the presentation of the penultimate event linking Zamudio to Mallabia over 163.8 kilometers.
