Tour of the Basque Country 2025: Healy caps off long solo ride, Almeida stays in yellow

foto: Cor VosWith roughly 55 kilometres to go, Ben Healy powers away from his breakaway companions – Pello Bilbao, Alex Baudin, Bruno Armirail, Warren Barguil, and Julian Alaphilippe. The Irishman never looks back and storms to a dominant solo victory. The GC remains unchanged. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 5th stage 2025 Tour of the Basque Country

1. Ben Healy (irl)
2. Axel Laurance (fra) + 1.47
3. Simone Velasco (ita) + 1.48
4. Alex Aranburu (spa) s.t.
5. Romain Grégoire (fra) s.t.
6. Maxim Van Gils (bel) s.t.
7. Pau Miquel (spa) s.t.
8. Jordan Jegat (fra) s.t.
9. Clément Champoussin (fra) s.t.
10. Guillermo Thomas Silva (uru) s.t.

GC after stage 4
1. João Almeida (por)
2. Maximilian Schachmann (ger) + 0.30
3. Florian Lipowitz (ger) + 0.38
4. Ilan Van Wilder (bel) + 0.49
5. Mattias Skjelmose (den) + 0.50
6. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 1.11
7. Alex Aranburu (spa) + 1.37
8. Enric Mas (spa) + 1.48
9. Simone Velasco (ita) + 2.14
10. Steff Cras (bel) + 2.15

Race report
After around five kilometres, Luc Wirtgen, Robert Stannard, Bastien Tronchon, Samuele Battistella, Alexander Kamp and Joris Delbove join forces. The peloton keeps up the chase, and the last two are the first to be reeled in. The others follow shortly after.

Eight riders try their luck on the Las Campas climb, but they’re not given any leeway either. On the upper slopes, Pello Bilbao, Ben Healy and Alex Baudin give it a go, with Bruno Armirail joining them. They’re more successful, while Warren Barguil and Julian Alaphilippe chase them down on the descent.

The six carve out a lead of just under 3 minutes, but it’s been whittled down to less than 2 by the time Healy launches a solo move. Still 55 kilometres left on the clock, and it’s all to play for.

His lead over the peloton grows again until it stands at nearly 3 minutes. It slips to 2 minutes, which is still more than enough for the win.

With a bold move in the dying kilometres, Axel Laurance surges ahead of the bunch and clings on for second place. João Almeida rolls in just 1 second later, safely defending his lead in the overall standings.

Another interesting read: route 5th stage 2025 Tour of the Basque Country.