Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the the final s🐬tage of Itzulꦇia Basque Country 2025.

UAE Team Emirates' Joao Almeid꧙a enjoys a soli💎d advantage heading into today's finale of the race, but this is the toughest stage of the week and we could see big GC differences made over the course of the next few hours.

Almeida has a 30 second advantage over early race leader Max Schachmann and a further 8 over Florian Lipowitz. Ilan v🌠an Wilder and Mattias Skjelmose are also less than a minute behind the Portuguese.

We're about ♉tဣen minutes away from the neutralised start in Eibar.

So what about the parcours for today?🅺 The final stage has more climbin🐼g in it than any other this week. The riders will tackle a gruelling 3716 vertical metres over the 153.5 kilometres. 

There are no less than eight categorised climbs on the route today, including the three first category ascents of the Azurki (5.1km at 7.4%), Krabelin (5km at 9.4%) and Izua (4.1km at 9%). You couldn't get a more classic Basque Country route if you tried. It's a ꧑proper shark tooth profile.

Yesterday's stage was dominated by one man. EF Education First-EasyPost's Ben Healy won with a 56.7km solo ride to beat the chasing peloton by 🔯almost two minutes. There were no real changes on GC. 

Here's our full report from yesterday's stage.

Neutralised Start

The riders have rolled off into the neutral zone.

Here is a full run-down of the categorised climbs on the menu for today (although there are also a fair few uncategorised ascents too):

After 13.7km - Elkorrieta (2.5km, 6.2%)

24.4km - Azurki (5.1km, 7.4%)

47.5km - Krabelin (5km, 9.4%)

69.4km - Trabakua (3.3km, 6.8%)

88.7km - Karabieta (6.5km, 6.5%)

116km - Izua (4.1km,9%)

135.7km - Trabakua (3.3km, 6.8%)

Here's what leader💜 Joao Almeid🌟a had to say before the start:

"I think it's a good place to be, starting the final day with the yellow jersey. We will d👍o our best and see how it goes."

"It's my first Itzulia so everything is new for me. Usually the queen stage is the hardest stage so I'm prepared𝓀 for the worst."

"I've been showing good legs. I been, I think, the strongest in the☂ race.🐬 Of course so many things can happen and I need to stay focussed and give my best like always."

We're moments away from the official 𓂃start of the race. Those looking to go into the breakaway will be eyeing up the Elkorrieta climb after ꦦ10km of racing to build an advantage.

153.4km to go

The ri𝓀ders are off for the final stage of Itzulia Bas🌠que Country 2025!

Almeida's most likely rival t♔oday looking at how each rider ha🐻s climbed this week is Florian Lipowitz. Here's what he had to say before the race got underway:

"It will ꦦbe a super hard day and a figh꧑t from the start. We will see how the legs are. It will be up to the legs who can win today and Almeida is really strong. The whole level of the bunch is super high and I think a lot of guys are fighting for the podium. I hope I have the legs to stay there and fight."

There's an early attack from Equip Ker൩n Pharma's Diego Uriarte. He is solo with a ten second lead.

There are five kilometres to go to the first climb🔥 of the day

Uriarte's lead has grown to 20 sec😼onds as Movistar's Michel Hessmann looks to jump across.

The big riders are looking♋ to gain an advantaꦜge before the first climb. Jimmy Janssens joins Hessman in pursuit of the lone leading Spaniard

Five riders didn't take the start today. They are Louis Barré, Alexander Kamp, Tom Paquot, Luca van Boven (all Intermarch&eac❀ute;-Wanty) and Fabien Weiss (Tudor).

Uriarte is still out there alone as Hessmann and Janssens are caught by the🐽 peloton with a kilometre to go to the opening climb.

Elkorrieta (2.5km, 6.2%)

Uriarte is caught as the climbing begins.

This climb gets steeper as it g♌oes. The final 500 m♈etres are above 9%.

No successful moves yet on the opening climb. However, after a short and shallow descent, the riders bounce straight into the first category climb of Azurki. This is where the action could kick off.

Will anyone in the ba🍎ttle for the overall look to go ea♐rly?

Mountain Classification leader Bruno Amirail (Groupama-FDJ) attacked off the front of the peloton to claim maximum point on the Elkorrieta. He leads M✨arc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) in that competition by seven points. 

Azurki (5.1km, 7.4%)

Climb number two for the🐎 day is already upon us. The peloton is still൲ altogether.

The Azurki has a 𒀰two-kilometre section in the middle that is above 10%. It's a tough climb.

Here is the peloton after the start in Eibar.

Here arꦆe theꦺ jersey wearers on the start-line earlier today

The att🌳acks are flying now on the steepest section of the Azurki.

Ineos Grenadiers' Axel Laurance is in a 💝move of 15 off the front. Bauke Mollema, Finlay Pickering and Bruno Amirail are also there. They have a slender advantage.

Laurance𝐆 is just ꦆ3:41 down on GC, so it's possible that UAE will look to bring him back.

An ear▨ly unsuccessful attack on the first climb of the💮 day

This group is getting big now with more than 2𝓀0 riders reported to bಌe in there. They have a 30 second advantage.

There are 21 riders up the road and one chasing in between. Their advantage has grown to over a minuꦫte.

Davide de Pretto was the man in the middle, but he has now made it up to the front as well. Yesterday's stage winner Ben Healy is there🍷 too as is Jorda꧃n Jegat who sits in 16th overall.

Here's the full composition of the group which looks to have established itself over the peloton now:

Axel Laurance, Bauke Mollema, Finlay Pickering, Ion Izagirre🌟, Sergio Samitier, Bruno Amirail, Callum Scotson, Dani Martinez, Pablo Castrillo, Gregor Mühlberger, Ben Healy, Jordan Jegat, Warren Barguil, Guillermo Marti🎉nez, Romain Grégoire, Txomin Juaristi, Louis Vervaeke, Unai Iribar, Davide de Pretto, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Sepp Kuss, Marc Hirschi.

Hugh Carthy is try to chase across, but is 45 seconds behind🍌 at th♛e moment.

Vervaeke and De Pretto seem to have bee꧅n dropped at the top of the climb.

The break are now deﷺscending the Azurki before a few kilometres of valley road ta🦂kes them to the next climb.

Jegat is the best-placed rider f🃏rom this break, but realistically he isꦕ no threat to Almeida. 

What U🦹AE Team Emirates may be worried about is the fact that Florian Lipowitz has a strong team-mate in there in 🌱the form of Dani Martinez. 5th-placed Mattias Skjelmose also has Bauke Mollema in the move to help him later on in the stage.

UAE Team Emirates are keeping things controlled at the front of tꦕhe bunch as the lead grows slowly towards two minutes.

Guillermo Martinez, Jordan Jegat and Ben Healy 🥂push on up the Azur💦ki climb to force the breakaway clear.

122km to go

The riders are on the bottom section of the de꧙scent🅰 now.

The leaders are now off the descent. There ar♒e 7 kilometres of flat valley road now before the Krabelin climb. The break's lead has edged over two minutes for the first time.

The break pushes on through the Basque count🉐ryside

Hugh Carthy was chasing to make it 🐼up to the leading group, but he has now been cau♎ght by the peloton. 

Vervaeke and De Pretto s🌳eem to be heading for the same fate as Carthy. They are now more than a minute adrift from the leading group of 20.

Krabelin (5km, 9.4%)

Time for the third climb of the day, and the second first category ascent. The leaders have an advantage of 1:5🌠5.

Krabelin is a vicious climb, and a regular feature ⛦in this race. The third and fourth kilometres both ris🧸e above 12%. It's a good launching pad for any rider from the peloton who wants to kick on.

🤪UAE are lifting the pace on this climb. The break's advantage is down to just over a minute.

110km to go

The riders are half way up Krabelin now and are on the steepe🍃st s♋ection.

The advantage for the leaders has stabilised now at 1:15. UAE don't want to bring this all the way back, but t🐽hey do want to keep it under control.

Jordan Jegat and Sepp Kuss have broken away from the group༺ on the steepest pitches of the climb.

Dani Martinez and Ben Healy bridge across to Jegat and Kuss 🌳and then move past them. They lead ahead of a group of three which also contains Callum Scotson.

So much action u🌊p front in this stage, and we're only a third of the way in.

The leaders are now 1:40 ahead of the peloton.

One thing is for certain: B🐼en Healy is on 🔴good form. After his long solo win yesterday, he looks like one of the strongest in the breakaway again today.

Marc Hirschi and Axel Laurance descending the A⛄zurki earlier.

The leaders are about to crest over the top 🌺of the Krabelin.

P🐽ablo Castrillo struggled to keep up with the group and h⛄e has been caught by the peloton.

Martínes and Healy still hold a small advantage over Scotson, Jegat and Kuss. A larger chasing group is around 20 seconds behind the leaders as they begin the d🥀escent.

It's a fairly long and shallow descent off the Krabeli෴n. After that is around🦩 8 kilometres of flat before the fourth climb of the day.

The Kuss group has now🦹 jo😼ined the leaders, making it five at the front.

Their advantage over the chas🏅ers is not significant, so it may come back together before the next climb. 

Three more riders join the front of the race. They are Bruno Amirail and a pair of Basque riders: Ion Izagirre and♎ Txomin Juaristi. 

It all appears to be coming back together at the ෴front of the race🅠.

Leader of the King of the Mounta🌃ins classific💜ation Bruno Amirail now leads solo on the descent. 

100km to go

The gap to the lead is now 1:50

Ineos Grenadiers' Axel 💙Laurance has been caugh💞t by the peloton.

The riders are on the appr𓂃oach to the fourth climb of the day, the Trabakua. This hill was used on the third stage of the 202ܫ3 Tour de France.

Amirail has around 10 sec𓆉onds on the chasing group of seven. The rest of the breakaway is another 30 seconds behind. 

The gap to the lead is now the larges🦂t it has been all day at 2:15. 🍒;

Cofidis' Sergio Samitie🌟r has been dropped from the third group.

TotalEnergies'ꦺ Jordan Jegat still stands to gain a lot if he can stay away from the peloton. He is virtually moving from 16th to 6th on GC at 💯the moment. 

Amirail now has a 35 second advantage ove🍬r a group of 12 chasers which inc꧂ludes Healy, Jegat, Kuss and Mollema. 

Trabakua (3.3km, 6.8%)

Amirailꦿ's lead over the peloton has grown to 2:30 at the bottom of Trabakua.

Trabakua is one of the ♛easier climbs of the day. The riders will face it twice today. It will also be the final categorised🍨 test of the stage.

Amirial is growing his advantage over the chase. He is now 45 seconds ahead. This is his fඣavoured terrain, though, the climbers in the group behind will look ဣto close the gap on the hills to come. 

The chase gr🔯oup are falling further behind the leading Frenchman. He now enjoys a lead of over a minute. 

Amirail may not win the stage today, but he is certainly making sure that he will hold onto the KOM jersey at the end of🤡 this race.

Amirail has been solo for around 20km now

85km to go

The gap is hol꧃d🍬ing steady halfway up the Trabakua. 

Amirail's lead has grown to just under three minut✤es

The riders are now on the descent of the Trabakua. There are a couple of uncategorised climbs now which𝔉 will also feature in the finale of the stageℱ.

80km to go

In classic Basque fashion, these uncateg🀅orised clᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚimbs look tough

Almeidꦑa is being attentive in the peloton, sitting fifth-wheel in the peloton behind four team-mates.

Amarail is💖 now descending throug𓆏h the town of Mallabia before taking on another uncategorised hill

The Frenc🔥hman is now 55 seconds ahead of the chase 𝔉group which currently numbers 13.

Jegat, H⛎ealy and Martínez have attacked away from the chase group. All three hav🌺e been very active already today.

It's Spaniard Igor💮 Arrieta on the front of the peloton in support of leader Jo&atild💖e;o Almeida.

As one might expect, ꦡUAE Team Emirates have held the break to a small advantage for much of the stage.

Healy, Jegat and Martínez have q𒉰uickly caught Amirail on that uncategori⭕sed rise. They closed the gap quickly to the Frenchman.

Jegat is now provisionally on the overall podium with the grou🐓p's lead over the pel🍃oton sitting at 2:46.

The riders are on a shallow descent now approaching the fifth climb of today's 🍌seven.

A bit of a re-shuffling atꦚ the front now. The chasing group has caught the front four, but Kuss, Juaristi and Pickering have been dropped.

It's a gro🍎up of 11 at the🌟 front now with a lead of 2:20.

Karabieta (6.5km, 6.5%)

The riders st🐎art the only category two climb of the day as the advantage of the lead group drops to two minutes.

70km to go

It's Brandon McNulty on t💟he front♎ of the peloton now as UAE begin to turn the screw.

The gap is falling on this climb. The leade✨rs now have 1:45 as Guillermo Martin🦩ez works on the front of the group in support of Picnic-PostNL team-mate Warren Barguil.

After attacking each𓄧 other for most of the stage so far, the lead group are now workin🐬g well together. 

There were in the lead group earlier, but Movistar's Pablo Castr🎐illo and Gregor Mühlberger have abandoned the stage.

UAE looks very strong at the froꦅnt of the peloton will almost their entire team still around Almeida. Just behind the🐠m are Soudal-QuickStep and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

2km to🦩 go on this climb at the gap to the front has dipped below 90 seconds.

It's tough out there. Seven more riders have withdrawn including Juli𒊎an Alaphilipp𒅌e (Tudor).

The rain has started to pour. 

The breakaway is working well together

The rain is really peltin🦩g the riders now. This could have a big impact on the race with several technical ♌descents till to come.

The leaders crest the Karabieta.

65km to go

The gap is down to 1:10 now as McNulty conti🌼nues to push on in the chase.

The lead group🐎 are descending very gingerly down the other side of the Karabieta.

Next up after the descent is the longest gap between climbs of the whole stage with around 20km of valley ro💞ad. 

The rain has eased but the roads are n🃏ow extremely damp.

Armirail won the points on top of the Karabieta and has made th💎e KOM classification his own. As long as he finishes, he will be on the podium in Eibar.

Hirsch𒐪i has taken more risks than others on the descent a༺nd now leads solo. 

The riders are now off the descenꦗt and on flatter, drier roads.

The peloton took the descent cautiouslꦚy and Hirschi's lead is now 1:48 overꦓ the peloton. 

Hirschi may or may not have intended to get away from the group on that descent, but he is pushing on now. It's a 20-second lead for the Swiss rider over the chas♈e group.

The riders will be pleased that thisꦑ rain has now subsided.

A few riders haveꩵ coꦛme back to the peloton during this lull in the action. It's now a group of around 60.

Bauke Mꦑollema has been absorbed by the peloton. He was dr𒁃opped on the wet descent. 

Hirschi being reeled in by the group now. The leaders will be on the next categorised cliꦗmb in 10 kilometres. 

The next climb is Izua, which the peloton are re-visiting af🐟ter it featured in the finale of stage four. That was the decisive climb of that stage, and perhaps the whole race. Almeida went solo there and won the day by 28 seconds. 

Here's🙈 our full report from that day to jog your🌌 memory.

Itzulia Basque Country: João Almeida rides away from rivals on final climb to deliver solo stage 4 victory, takes overall race lead

The leaders are approaching 🎃the first of two intermediate sprints ꧋of the stage. Their lead has dropped to 1:25.

Movistar have wrestled the lead away from UAE in the peloton. Enric Mas is sitting in 8th place overall and the Spanish team would like to see him move up the rankings.

It's a key point in the stage as the teams look to position their leaders ahead of ꦕthe Izua climb.

The pace is rapid in the peloton and the lead has been cut to under a minute now. The lead group maꦓy not survive the next climb.

Jordan Jegat nipped off the fron♑t of the lead group to take three seconds in the intermediate sprint. 

The riders are weaving through the narrow streets of Eibar now on the approach to the Izua. This could be the key climb of t𓄧he race.

There is a crash for Ilan van Wilder and Maxim van Gils as the peloton go through to𝓡wn.

McNulty is still on th🤪e front up a steep ascent prior to the nexꦉt climb.

Up front, Healy and Dani Mart&i🍌acute;nez have♉ gone clear.

Callum Scotson bridges over to the leaders, but just as he🐼 gets there Healy accelerates 🤪again.

Izua (4.1km, 9%)

The peloton is splitting as the climb starts. McNulty🅘 continues to drive on. 

Schachmann also came 🌜down in the crash, but he and Van Wil💦der have now made it back to the peloton.

Skjelmose and Mas are just behind🅷 🌳the UAE train at the moment, but Schachmann and Lipowitz have been distanced.

Lipowitz has had a problem and has taken a team-mate's bike. He is well behind now but has Vlasov with him to heꦍlp to pace him back.

R🌃iders from the lead gꦅroup are being picked off by the peloton now. 

Healy attacks Dani Martinez and now leads solo.

Healy has a minute over the bunch which💛 is n🌠ow being led by Felix Grossschartner.

The peloton is down to🍒 around 15 riders. Lip꧟owitz is around 30 seconds behind the group. 

João Almeida calls for pace 🐼from his Austrian team-mate and draws a smaller group clear with Enric Mas and Stef Cras pres🍰ent. 

1km to the top of the climꦯb for Healy, He still has 𝔉50 seconds. 

Almeida pushes on himself now with Mas and Cras in the wheel. Marc Soler is a few metres behind and is hanging on to help his leader i💛f he can. 

As Almeida catches Martinez, the chase group is around 10 seconds behind wi🌠th Skjelmose in pursuit. 

It's impressive from Healy, t൩his. Almeida is pouring it on behind but he isn't closing the gap on the Irishman. 

Healy attacking Martinez to go🌌 solo for the second day running

Healy is over the climb now and is smashing down thi𝄹s descent. He is taking risks✱ and threading beautifully through the corners.

Skjelmose has made it up to the Almeida group alonಞg with a team-mate and is leওtting rip on the descent. 

The two riders on the podium with Almeida before this stage are both distanced; Lipowitz is now a m🌠inute behind the Almeida group. Skjelmose and Mas look as though they c🐷ould take advantage.

30km to go

53 seconds now fꦯor Healy as he enters the final stages of this descent. 

The Almeida chase group are closing in 𓂃on Healy during this flat😼ter section. The lead is now down to 40 seconds. 

Almeida has team-mates Isaac deℱl Toro and Marc Soler w꧒ith him alongside Lidl-Trek's Skjelmose and Thibau Nys, Enric Mas and Jordan Jegat who has held on from the breakaway.

Healy cheered on bܫy the Basque fans on the Izua climb

Healy's ꩵlead is down to 23 seconds now. It looks as though the EF rider won't be ♈able to repeat his feat from yesterday

The chase group have Healy in their sights 🦩now as they approach the second ascent of Trabakua.

Trabakua (3.3km, 6.8%)

Healy♌ has been caught now as the group begins the final categori🐎sed climb of the day

20km to go

Behind the leaders is now a group with Schachmann and Lipowitz. They appear to ꦗbe  making good progress in chasing the Almeida group.

Cofidis are working hard in that chasing group as Spanish champion Aleix Aranburu is in there. He has a very fast 𒀰finish and could win his second stage of the week if they can close the gap

Almeida attacks on the Trabakua. Mas g🎀oes with the𒈔 race leader with Skjelmose on the wheel. 

Incredibly, it's Healy pacing the leaders pack.

The pace went out from the leading group of three and Healy has brought them back with Del Toro and Jegat on his wheel. It's now a le�🐓�ading group of six. 

Guillaume Martin is trying to attack over to the leaders as ꦕIlan van Wilder leads the chase group.

The rai꧙n is falling again as the riders move onto the descent of the Trabakua

As he did before, Skjelmose is lifting the pace on the wet descent. He crashes on a left turn and tha♚t could be his podium ambitions dashed.

The Dane was virtually in second place overall but he now has a meꦗchanical issue after the fall. Aranburu attacks off the front ꦫof the chase group. 

The leading group of five - Almeida, Del Toro, Mas, Healy, Jegat - is off the desceꦐnt now and into this series of steep uncategorised kickers.

Mas is pushing on and Jegat is distanced. Del Tor✱o is also going backwards.

What a ride from Healy. He is the🔴 only one who can stick with Ma🔥s and Almeida even after being up the road for the entire stage. 

Aranburu has caught Martin behind, but the chasing group is not far behind, led by Vanꦅ Wilder. 

Del Toro is attempting to ease his way back to the trio up front 🧸as they hit another uncat🌟egorised climb. 

Almeida on the attack

Mas isn't happy with his companions. He is♏ putting in a lot of work to try to jump onto the podium and Healy isn't doing any work after his big day out.

10km to go

The leading trio are on the f﷽inal proper descent of the stage. There are a couple of small hills left on the run🌱 into Eibar

Del Toro gets back to the leaders with Jegaꦯt, Aranburu and Martin behind. After that, it is a larger group containing Schachmann and Lipowitz💟 just over a minute behind. 

Currently, Enric Mas is set to jump up to fourth overall. He needs another 20 seconds or so to get himself onto the podium.&nb🅺sp;

Aft💖er his crash, Skjelmose was absorbed by the large chasing group. That means the riders in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th on GC are in that group. 

5km to go

﷽Every time the road goes upwards, Mas attacks. He has distanced Healy and Del Toro on a short, sharp slope heading into Eibar. Almeida is stuck to his wheel. 

Aranburu, Martin and Jegat aไre togꦇether now 50 seconds behind the leaders. 

The gap to the chase group is widening. As it st🐈ands, Mas is now second in GC.

Lots of standing water on the roads in these 🌄final kilometres

3km to go

Looks like the stage will be fought for between Almeida👍 and Mas

Behind, Martin has🗹 crashed on ꧅the wet descent. 

2km to go

Mas is 🃏still driving the pace on as he looks to secure his second place overall

There are𒁏 going to be seconds in it between Mas and Schachmann fo𒆙r that second place

1km to go

Mas and Almeida prepare for the final sprint in🀅 Eibar

Almeida is stuck to Mas' 🌃wheel as they navigate the narroꦡw, winding streets

Almeida moves to the front with 400 metres to go

The Portuguese opens his sprint with 250m to go

Mas can't come round the race leader and João Almeida seals the win on the final stage and the🐻 overall victory of Itzulia Basque Country 2025

Be꧟n Healy comes across the line in third place, with Del Toro a few seconds behind

Aranburu and 🦄Jegat come across the line next, only a few seconds ahead of the chase group. Oscar Onley wins the sprint behind.

It was an extremely technical finish, espec🐭ially with the ran pouring down. Almeida got his tactics right in the end, leading out the sprint from far out. Mas was unable to come round on the final straight. 

In fact,💃 Enric Mas has overcome Max Schachmann to take se🐬cond place by seven seconds. Florian Lipowitz falls off the podium after his mechanical on the Izua climb.

Here are the results from stage six of the 2025 Itz🎶ulia Basque Country:

It's Almeida's third win on the road this year and his first stage race win this🔯 season. His team controlled the race throughout and he showed himself to be the strongest in the field today.

With Almeida rock solid in the lead, the biggest GC action came with a podium re-shuffle which was brought ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚabout by mis-fortune for Lipowitz an𓆏d Schachmann and strong riding ahead by Mas.

Lipowitz's mechanical couldn't have been timed any worse as the race was kicking off on the key climb of the day. Schachmann was held up by a crash as the peloton went through Eibar and his team wasn't able to close the gap back to the Spꦅaniard.

Team-mates Schachmann and Van Wilder discuss the day's ﷽events as they shield from the 𒐪cold.

Forꦫ Schachmann, it's a first 🅘WorldTour General Classifiacation podium since he won Paris-Nice in 2021

Here's our full repor🌊t from stage 6 ofไ Itzulia Basque Country 2025

Itzulia Basque Country: João Almeida crushes opposition to clinch second stage win and overall win