The fourth day of racing in Pais Vasco was a day to forget for Team Giant-Alpecin as four riders abandoned the race. Tom Dumoulin was unable to go with the best.

Thierry Hupond didn’t takes the start in today’s stage since he was not recovered properly from his earlier efforts. Fredrik Ludvigsson was suffering knee pain as the team decided to not risk further problems. During the stage Cheng Ji and Carter Jones were not fit as last-named suffered stomach problems and both abandoned today as well.

Tom Dumoulin decided to save his legs in the final with the aim to go for a stage result in the upcoming days. Meanwhile, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) took his second stage success.

After the stage, coach Aike Visbeek gave his feedback: “Together with Tom, we decided to not exceed his maximum today. The reason for that was his position in the GC, combined with the races that are ahead of him in the upcoming month.

“The day’s plan was to go for the early break. During the stage it proved to become a real battle for us. We suffered losses as Fredrik, Cheng, and Carter were unable to continue the race.”