Knox finishes top 10 at Itzulia Basque Country

Knox finishes top 10 at Itzulia Basque Country

James Knox took his fourth top ten in a World Tour race after a relentless queen stage Saturday afternoon in the Basque Country. A total of seven climbs – Elkorrieta, Azurki, Gorla, Krabelin, Trabakua, Izua and Urkaregi – made for a gruelling day in the saddle around Eibar, the traditional finish of the race, this time without the iconic Arrate climb.

Our team didn’t start the stage as a prime contender, but that didn’t stop the Soudal Quick-Step boys from showing their intentions with around 50 kilometers to go, when Mauro Schmid set out in a solo pursuit of the leading group, which he caught ahead of the penultimate ascent. The Swiss didn’t remain too much time there, accelerating on the descent and opening a gap on the quartet, which allowed him to start the Izua with a 30-second margin.

When the yellow jersey passed him two kilometers from the top, Schmid immediately switched to devoting all his energies to James Knox, who was part of a select group that soon linked with him. Runner-up on the opening day, Mauro pulled hard for his teammate, keeping things together in the valley despite the numerous accelerations, before paving the way for an attack of the Cumbrian.

Knox zipped clear with three kilometers to go, and helped by Mauro who disrupted the chase, he put some daylight between him and his opponents. On the flat roads of Eibar, the 27-year-old continued to dig deep and this brought him second on the stage and a well-deserved place in the overall classification top 10, where he moved after gaining three positions thanks to his impressive ride. Together with Schmid’s seventh place on the stage and Mattia Cattaneo’s strong effort, this helped Soudal Quick-Step win the team classification at the prestigious race.

“I am extremely happy with my result. The whole squad did a great race this week, we came close to getting a win several times, we were in the mix on all the stages, so we can be proud of how we rode. Today I took my chances and attacked, while Mauro – who had already helped me over the top of the last climbs – could cover the moves behind. I am delighted with this top 10 at World Tour level and the victory we took in the team classification”, James explained.

 

Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images

Race details

1 Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen
Jumbo-Visma
3:36:42
2 James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step
0:47
3 Ion Izagirre Insausti
Cofidis
0:49
4 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
0:49
5 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
0:49
6 David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
0:49
7 Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step
0:49
8 Simon Yates
Team Jayco AlUla
0:49
9 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
0:49
10 Felix Gall
AG2R Citroën Team
0:49
38 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step
4:03
61 Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step
11:00
DNF Martin Svrček
Soudal - Quick Step
-03:36:42
DNF Dries Devenyns
Soudal - Quick Step
-03:36:42
DNF Andrea Bagioli
Soudal - Quick Step
-03:36:42
1 Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen
Jumbo-Visma
24:45:24
2 Mikel Landa Meana
Bahrain - Victorious
1:12
3 Ion Izagirre Insausti
Cofidis
1:29
4 David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
1:31
5 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
1:36
6 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
1:37
7 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
1:38
8 James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step
1:38
9 Simon Yates
Team Jayco AlUla
1:39
10 Felix Gall
AG2R Citroën Team
1:50
11 Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step
2:36
25 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step
7:20
63 Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step
41:18
1 Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen
Jumbo-Visma
102 pt
2 Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step
67 pt
3 Mikel Landa Meana
Bahrain - Victorious
55 pt
4 Ion Izagirre Insausti
Cofidis
51 pt
5 Matteo Sobrero
Team Jayco AlUla
51 pt
6 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
Trek - Segafredo
50 pt
7 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
48 pt
8 David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
47 pt
9 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
44 pt
10 Alex Aranburu Deba
Movistar Team
34 pt
12 James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step
30 pt
19 Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step
16 pt
23 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step
10 pt
1 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
35 pt
2 Esteban Chaves Rubio
EF Education-EasyPost
27 pt
3 Ruben Guerreiro
Movistar Team
25 pt
4 Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen
Jumbo-Visma
19 pt
5 Steven Kruijswijk
Jumbo-Visma
18 pt
6 Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step
18 pt
7 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step
14 pt
8 Alan Jousseaume
TotalEnergies
11 pt
9 Georg Zimmermann
Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
10 pt
10 Mikel Landa Meana
Bahrain - Victorious
8 pt
25 James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step
1 pt
1 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
24:47:02
2 Felix Gall
AG2R Citroën Team
0:12
3 Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step
0:58
4 Attila Valter
Jumbo-Visma
1:35
5 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
Trek - Segafredo
3:05
6 Andreas Leknessund
Team DSM
6:06
7 Igor Arrieta Lizarraga
Equipo Kern Pharma
6:20
8 Marc Hirschi
UAE Team Emirates
14:42
9 Laurens Huys
Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
18:04
10 Romain Grégoire
Groupama - FDJ
32:33
1 Soudal - Quick Step 74:24:59
2 Jumbo-Visma 3:29
3 Movistar Team 5:58
4 BORA - hansgrohe 14:43
5 EF Education-EasyPost 15:19
6 Team Arkéa Samsic 17:21
7 Team Jayco AlUla 20:16
8 Trek - Segafredo 20:37
9 Groupama - FDJ 21:52
10 Cofidis 32:46

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