Nick van der Lijke formed part of a big breakaway during the fifth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country today. The young Team LottoNL-Jumbo Dutchman jumped several times early on in the stage and had his efforts rewarded. Along with 30 other riders, he led the 155-kilometre stage from Eibar to Aia for the majority of the day.

Mikel Landa of Astana proved to be the strongest man of the breakaway. The Spaniard was able to remain ahead of the peloton in the final together with four others and sprinted to the line on the climb, the last of eight in the day. Tim Wellens of team Lotto-Soudal finished second.

Van der Lijke placed 70th. He finished a little less than eight minutes behind Landa.

Sergio Henao still wears the yellow jersey. The Colombian Sky rider is on the same time as number two, Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez of team Katusha.

“I’m pretty exhausted, it was tough,” Van der Lijke said, while looking back on the day.

Considering the upcoming Ardennes Classics he added, “But it was worth it.”

“I already wanted to try and get into a break this week before the race started. I really wanted it, so for me it was all or nothing today. I took the risk, knowing that I could be in trouble if I was caught.

“I tried a number of times and just before the first climb, I succeeded with several others. Fifteen riders bridged later on. After the fourth climb, the pace of the group simply became too high for me.”
 

The peloton will end the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday with an 18.3-kilometre time trial around the municipality of Aia. The course includes two small climbs.