Nys only needs one monster acceleration to immediately win on his return in GP Miguel Indurain

In the sunny Basque Country, this one-day race is always a great warm-up for the upcoming Tour of the Basque Country. And here too, you'll find plenty of the region’s signature steep hills. Last year’s winner was Brandon McNulty, and the entire top five from that edition returned to the start. But this time, Thibau Nys also lined up: the Belgian was making his comeback after a long winter and a subsequent period of rest.

Early on in the race, eight riders broke away from the peloton. Edoardo Zamperini (Arkéa), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Anton Charmig (XDS Astana), Jambaljamts Sayinbayar (Burgos Burpellet BH), Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), Harrison Wood (Anicolor), Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel Euskadi), and Unai Esparza (Illes Balears Arabay) built up a solid lead. They were given plenty of space, which led to a relatively calm race. After about two hours, the pace picked up slightly, and the breakaway group began to lose ground.

It was too fast for Esparza, leaving seven riders out front. A crash involving Isaac Del Toro gave the peloton a brief scare: the Mexican sustained some scrapes but was able to rejoin the peloton. Meanwhile, the lead group’s advantage continued to shrink, and the final phase of the race loomed. Usually, the race explodes in the last 10 kilometers, but this time it kicked off much earlier thanks to Igor Arrieta. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider launched an attack with 30 kilometers to go, joined by Mauro Schmid. Later on, eight more riders joined them, including Roger Adrià, Kévin Vauquelin, and Bauke Mollema.

That group didn’t last long, however, and the peloton managed to catch the final attackers just before the last climbs in the final stretch. A large group entered the last 10 kilometers together, with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe taking control. Marc Soler then opened the action with a solo attack. It didn’t do much damage, but it did cause some disorganization. McNulty, Ion Izagirre, Alex Aranburu... they all tried to get away, but none succeeded.

Amid the chaos, four riders managed to break away: Felix Grossschartner (UAE), Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies), and Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural) and Bauke Mollema. They gained a decent gap on the descent, but a brutally steep climb awaited them in the final three kilometers. Vercher was the first to go there, but there was also movement from the peloton. Nys powered up to the front and launched a devastating attack just before the summit. No one — absolutely no one — could keep up. The descent that followed was a mere formality for the Belgian, who clinched victory immediately upon his return. Molenaar finished a strong second behind him.