Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) wins stage five Vuelta Pais Vasco, Basque Country.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) wins Queen's stage five Vuelta al Pais Vasco in Eibar ahead of Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac).

  Valverde closed the gap to a late attack from Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) and Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) near the summit of the climb, bringing along Bardet and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), who took third on the stage. "I attacked and attacked, the others struggled, but I also suffered and it was difficult to create a gap," Valverde said of the final climb. "At the final stretch of the 'new' climb I decided to just set a steady pace, without any attacks, to catch Woods and Meintjes. That way, I could contest the sprint, where I knew I'd be the fastest. "I knew the finish perfectly - one who doesn't do might have his doubts about how to tackle that final turn, on full steam or braking a bit before going for the final straight. I knew I had to go full gas, that's why I took the lead with 300m to go and never let anyone go ahead." Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) trailed across the line three seconds behind Woods and Meintjes, with Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Sergio Henao (Sky) and Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) a further dozen seconds down. Overnight race leader David De La Cruz (Quick-Step Floors) lost contact on the steepest part of the final climb, but rallied to keep himself inside the top 10 overall, coming across the line 22 seconds behind Valverde. Valverde now leads the race with one stage remaining, but on the same time with Bardet and Uran and facing a tough battle in the final stage, a 27.7km time trial on Saturday. "A GC victory would be a huge plus for my palmarès, I can't deny I want to take it as I haven't got an Itzulia - but I'll feel happy all the same if I don't win," Valverde said. "I've claimed eight victories so far this year, two GCs, lots of second and third places - everything that happens now will not change my happiness. We also know that some good specialists are behind us, really close, and it will be tough to conserve the jersey.
The key on tomorrow's TT route will be both the ascent and the flat after the Elgeta descent. You've got to climb fast and profit from that long downhill to recover because, even though there are some generous stretches into the flatter part to just throw your bike and not pedal, you'll also need some power on your legs to cope with some difficult sections. I know it well, I actually went on a recce of it last Friday, and today's finale went through some of its roads. I'm confident I can do well."