Tour of the Basque Country 2023: Schelling sprints to triumph and race lead

foto: Cor VosIde Schelling sprints to victory in the streets of Leitza. He outguns Matteo Sobrero and David Gaudu to move into the GC lead on the Tour of the Basque Country. Those two sit in second and third overall. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 2nd stage 2023 Itzulia Basque Country

1. Ide Schelling (nld)
2. Matteo Sobrero (ita) s.t.
3. David Gaudu (fra) s.t.
4. Alex Aranburu (spa) s.t.
5. Brandon McNulty (usa) s.t.
6. Andrea Bagioli (ita) s.t.
7. Rigoberto Uran (col) s.t.
8. Christian Scaroni (ita) s.t.
9. Simon Gugliemi (fra) s.t.
10. Ruben Guerreiro (por) s.t.

GC after stage 2
1. Ide Schelling (nld)
2. Matteo Sobrero (ita) + 0.04
3. David Gaudu (fra) + 0.06
4. Mikel Landa (spa) + 0.07
5. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 0.08
6. Alex Aranburu (spa) + 0.10
7. Andrea Bagioli (ita) s.t.
8. Christian Scaroni (ita) s.t.
9. Matthias Skjelmose (den) s.t.
10. Richard Carapaz (ecu) s.t.

32. Mauro Schmid (den) + 0.15
35. Esteban Chaves (col) + 0.21
39. Enric Mas (spa) s.t.
40. Bauke Mollema (nld) s.t.
58. Juan Pedro López (spa) s.t.
67. Daniel Felipe Martínez (col) + 0.37

Race report
Ezquerra, Jousseaume, Romo, Juaristi, Barrenetxea and Garcia attack virtually from the gun. The six race to a lead of 7 minutes.

Leader Hayter drops from the peloton in the run-up to the steep climb to Saldias, while Romo and Jousseaume are the remaining attackers in the climb. Landa goes after the duo. He takes Barrenetxea with him and they rejoin the front of the race.

Landa takes 3 bonus seconds in the Donetzbe sprint before he is the last attacker to be reeled in with 18 kilometres to go. Calmejane counter-attacks, while Balderstone tracks him down. De la Cruz jumps across 3 kilometres under the top.

The attackers are caught before the summit and the peloton flies down to the line at breackneck speed. Positioning is everything and Schelling masters the craft to perfection. The Dutchman wins the stage ahead of Sobreo and Gaudu. Which is also the top 3 on GC.

Another interesting read: route 2nd stage 2023 Tour of the Basque Country.