Remco Evenepoel expressed his disappointment after losing the Iturria Basque region to Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) on the final day of the six-day event. Quick-Step AlfaVinyl's Lemco Evenepoel started stage 6 in the overall lead, but was separated on the finale's Usartza climb to Alate.

"I fell back, but I have no regrets. I have no regrets. Even when the riders started to attack, I did everything I could to get back. I just fell off when I attacked, but the gap didn't change. It was not a bad day. I just could have fought with the best riders and kept attacking, but I couldn't do that today. I am a little sad that I missed the podium by a few seconds," he said in a post-race interview. he said in a post-race interview.

The Belgian was strong from the start in Iturria-Basque, finishing second behind Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) in the opening time trial in Hondarribia. He finished third in Maravia on stage 5 and remained in second place overall until he took the leader's jersey.

He started the final 6th stage in first place, 2 seconds behind Martinez, 20 seconds behind Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), 21 seconds behind Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis), and 22 seconds ahead of Alexandre Vlasov (Bora Hanslugoe).

Evenpoel was forced to close some threatening gaps in the final third of the race, which opened up on the climbs of Gorla and Urkaregi. Each time, Evenpoel caught up on the descent. He also pulled back after an attack toward the final climb caused a small split in the lead group.

Then, at Eibar, just 9km from the finish and just before the final climb to Usarza, the time bonus intermediate sprint was on. Martinez gained 2 seconds and Bilbao 1 second, extending his lead over Martinez to 3 seconds.

"I didn't learn anything. I might have learned to go down the mountain better, but that's all I learned today," Evenpoel told reporters. But the time bonus was not enough to protect his overall lead.

Izaguirre split the pack on the final climb, catching the breakaway Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) and pulling away from Evenpoel.

The Spaniard continued his strongest run on the final stage, earning a 10-second time bonus. Vlasov finished second by 6 seconds, Soler third by 4 seconds, and Martinez fourth by 2 seconds to take the overall win ahead of Evenpoel, who finished seventh on the day and fourth overall by 24 seconds.

"I didn't make the podium, but I came here to test myself against the best of the Grand Tours. Also, today I was up there until the last climb and I couldn't keep up with them when they made a big acceleration, but I was able to ride at a high pace. I just missed the podium."

Evenpoel said he was happy with his form despite losing the race on the final stage.

"That's life. But it would have been great to be on the podium in the Basque Country. It would have been nice to be on the podium in the Basque Country.