Michael Leonard keeps Basque Country best rider jersey and moves up on GC
Canadian's teammate Caleb Ewan wins the bunch sprint
Canadian Michael Leonard moved up three places on GC at the WorldTour Itzulia Basque Country and kept the best young rider’s jersey after Tuesday’s second stage, while his teammate Caleb Ewan claimed the victory in a bunch sprint. Leonard is now seventh.
The Course
One of the least lumpy road stages of the race, Tuesday contained a Cat. 3 early in the route. Once the riders crossed the finish line in Lodosa at 61 km to go, they would face a series of little hills.
A handful of escapees, mostly Spaniards from Spanish ProTeams, skipped clear early, with Diego Uriarte tipping over the Cat. 3 San MartÃn de Unx first. Uriarte was keeping Schachmann’s KOM jersey warm on Tuesday, but could claim it outright. When it crossed the finish line for the first time, the break was 1:50 clear.
Schachmann’s Soudal-Quick Step and Leonard’s Ineos were prominent at the front of the peloton.
With 19 km to go, Jayco-AlUla’s Mauro Schmid whipped up the pace at the pointy end of the peloton, hoping to distance the pure sprinters. Visma-Lease a Bike mobbed the front. The remnants of the breakaway started to fragment with 6 km remaining. Orange-clad breakaway Xabier Isasa still had victory dreams but they were dashed before the red kite.
In a messy sprint, Ewan sailed into the final left hand corner and punched the gas to triumph.
Wednesday’s route contains seven categorized climbs.
You can watch the 64th Itzulia Basque Country at FloBikes.
2025 Itzulia Basque Country Stage 2
1) Caleb Ewan (Australia/Ineos) 4:13:50
2) Luca Van Boven (Belgium/Intermarché-Wanty) s.t.
3) Bastien Tronchon (France/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) s.t.
2025 Itzulia Basque Country GC
1) Max Schachmann (Germany/Soudal-Quick Step) 4:32:27
2) João Almeida (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) s.t.
3) Florian Lipowitz (Germany/Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:01
7) Michael Leonard (Canada/Ineos) +0:16