A fizzer of a finish on a leg breaking stage in the Basque country and a rainbow sprint to the victory in the Netherlands.

Itzulia Basque Country Stage 6: Eibar to Arrate, 122.2km

Enric Mas took his first professional victory on a brutal stage. A survivor from the break of the day, the Quickstepper flew solo on the Alto de Arrate, holding off Movistar’s Mikel Landa to cross over the line with a joyous celebration and a smile to rival Estaban Chaves. Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) refused to panic as Landa and Ion Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida) rode away from him and paced himself perfectly to take the overall and the points jersey. Mas was best young rider and King of the Mountain to round off a successful week for the Wolfpack.

Brief highlights can be found on Cycling Fans

Our race review here. Full race report at Cycling News

Race Website Race Twitter #itzulia

Healthy Ageing Tour Stage 4: Hogland to Winsum, 142.9km

Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans) took her first victory in the rainbow stripes. The World Champion got the better of Wiggle High5’s  Kirsten Wild in a reduced bunch sprint after her teammates forced the pace in the closing kilometres. Monique van de Ree (WaowDeals) rounded out the podium. Boels-Dolmans still hold sway on the GC podium with Amy Pieters on the top step.

There’s a video summary of the stage on race website (In Dutch)

“I had to wait a bit for this moment to happen, but now I’ve got my win,” Chantal Blaak. 

Quote from Boels-Dolmans  team report

Full race report at Cycling News

Race Website Race Twitter #HAT18

Header image: Enric Mas – David Ramos/Getty Images)