A relentless fight at the front from the very start; 70km and two categroized climbs needed to establish a dangerous break. They never gained more than two-and-a-half minutes of advantage; plenty of attacks on the final climb of Usartza. In the end, no changes overall in a Vuelta al País Vasco still within everyone's reach, including the Movistar Team riders, following the Queen stage over 162km and seven climbs towards the Santuario de Arrate in Eibar.

Nairo Quintana and Ion Izagirre were the biggest highlights of a day full of good performances from the telephone squad's riders. Beñat Intxausti and Gorka Izagirre tried to get themselves into the early break and forced the bunch to chase; eventually, a four-man attempt including Tony Martin (EQS) forced Antón, Visconti and José Herrada to push until the end of the penultimate ascent, the Alto de San Miguel.

Over the top of that hill, the Izagirre brothers perfectly escorted Quintana into the last descent, and together with Intxausti, launched the pace to catch the escapees and lead Quintana out on the Category-1 Usartza, where Ion Izagirre and Quintana responded to successive attacks from Zakarin (KAT) and Henao (SKY).

Finally, twelve riders led through by Joaquim Rodríguez (KAT) came together, with Izagirre in fourth place while Quintana finished in seventh. Both are now part of an overall top-ten still commanded by Henao; Quintana sits in 3rd, with the same time of the yellow jersey, as Izagirre climbs into 8th, 10" back. The 'Itzulia' thus becomes a matter of two hard days ahead, starting with the 155km stage five from Eibar to the 'wall' of Aia, climbed three times after an additional six categorized ascents.

“We came here to win this race, we've got a strong team and we're trying to show it. It was a really demanding day from the beginning: the real breakaway wasn't forming, attacks were everywhere and it was also good for us that the race was harder, so we could make a difference on the final climb," Izagirre said.

"We started the Usartza climb at a high pace from the foot, with that leadout from Beñat, and when Zakarin attacked, I joined him and Luis León, but soon I saw it wasn't the best pace for me, too fast. I opted to stay at my own rhythm and, when I saw Henao was overtaking me and he was alone, I waited for Nairo so I could bring him to his wheel, pushing on the climb and a bit more over the top.

“In the final 2k, we managed to catch both Zakarin and Henao, and I tried to bring Nairo forward in the group because it was crucial to start the descent on front, but with 600m to go, I could see Nairo's chain dropping a bit, and he lost some meters which made him unable to contest the sprint. It wasn't to be today, but there's another good stage on Friday. Nairo is in good spirits, willing to fight, he looks strong and he's always staying with the top guys. Surely he will be there tomorrow."