Race organizers had designed stage 5 of Itzulia Basque Country 2025 – also known as Tour of the Basque Country – as a 172.3-kilometer ride in hilly terrain on a route from Urduna to Gernika-Lumo. 

The general classification favorites were expected to opt for a relaxing ride while recovering and regaining their strength before Saturday’s stage 6, which would feature challenging mountain terrain, which would have a decisive influence on the general classification.

Friday’s stage 5 of Itzulia Basque Country 2025 was expected to offer ample opportunity for the breakaway specialists in the peloton to shine on the roads of the scenic hilly terrain of the Basque country. 

As expected, multiple breakaway attempts were launched from the beginning of the stage as many teams were eager to send riders into breakaways in a stage, which might culminate in a victory for a rider, who had been active in an attack.

Several attacks were launched in the early part of the race, only to be reeled in by the peloton, which was riding at a fast pace while negotiating a solution, which could end in a viable breakaway group forming and building a viable gap.

A group featuring six strong and noteworthy riders eventually formed. The group featured Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R), Warren Barguil (Picnic-PostNL), and not least Julian Alaphilippe, who had rediscovered the joy of racing on the Tudor Pro Cycling Team. The six breakaway optimists pushed hard on the pedals to form a durable advantage and had a lead of 02:25 minutes when one hundred kilometers of the stage remained. Riders from Movistar were leading the main peloton group and controlling the chase effort.

The riders reached the Aretxabalgane climb – a Category Three climb, which was the penultimate categorized climb of the day. 86 kilometers of intense racing remained for the riders in the race.

Ben Healy launched a solo attack approximately 55 kilometers from the finish line. His EF Education-EasyPost team was eagerly chasing a highly needed stage victory, and the Irishman was always doing his best to deliver.

Healy was fifteen seconds ahead of the five chasers when fifty kilometers of the stage remained. The main peloton was now 01:30 minutes behind and the strongest teams were now working hard, hoping to increase the pace. Bruno Armirail got dropped from the chase group, which was turned into a quartet.

Healy had a lead of 01:37 minutes over chasers Bilbao, Baudin, Barguil, and Alaphilippe with 35 kilometers of the stage left. He was showing great form and great determinism. The main peloton, headed by riders from UAE Team Emirates and Ineos-Grenadiers, was 2:43 minutes behind the Irishman.

Healy was having one of his unique days of great power and persistence and he was delivering an additional impressive performance, which would help decorate his palmares even more.

The chances of success for frontman Healy were looking big and bright. The Irish breakaway expert from EF Education-EasyPost had a lead of 02:30 minutes with twenty-five kilometers left. Meanwhile, the chasing main peloton was riding at a very fast pace and had almost swallowed the other four remaining riders from the long breakaway of the day. It was now Healy versus the rest of the peloton, apart from his teammates, who were admiring his impressive performance on his Cannondale bike.

Axel Laurance launched a solo attack from the main peloton for his Ineos-Grenadiers team on the final climb of the day, but his advantage didn’t appear viable. Enric Mas, Mattias Skjelmose and Clement Champoussin countered. Healy was still two minutes up the road, while 17 kilometers remained.

Jordan Jegat was the next rider to try his luck on the climb. The rider from Team TotalEnergies did not find the energy needed to create a big gap and the reduced main peloton was chasing a few meters behind him. 

Healy was approaching the summit of the final climb of stage 5 and a fast and dangerous descent on narrow mountain roads now awaited the EF Education-EasyPost rider. Hopefully luck would still be with him.

Axel Laurance (Ineos-Grenadiers) again launched an attack from the small peloton group, hoping to gain some time on his competitors in the general classification.

Ben Healy proved the fastest and strongest man on the day. The Irish star rider from EF Education-EasyPost soloed across the finish line in Gernika-Lumo as proud winner of stage 5 of Itzulia Basque Country 2025.

Laurance was the second rider to cross the finish line. He reached the stage conclusion three seconds before the reduced main peloton, where Simone Velasco won the sprint for third place on the stage podium.

“I had great legs today,” stage winner Healy told Roadcycling.com shortly after the stage finish. “We had two guys in the breakaway, and I went in the tailwind and had really good legs,” Healy said. 

“The heat was a bit of a shock to my system in the past couple of days, so my GC ambitions failed. The breakaway group was really strong today and our plan was successful. My achievement today is a great omen for the Ardennes Classics to come,” Healy explained.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Tour of the Basque Country 2025 and the rest of the professional cycling season.