Remco Evenpoel, who held second place overall, just 5 seconds behind Primoz Roglic, finally ended Jumbo Visma's time in the yellow leader's jersey with an attack on the Calabieta climb with 15km to go. But after a steep, rain-soaked climb to the finish in Malavia, he found himself in a more precarious position.

"I'm proud to finally finish with the big guys," Evenpoel said in a post-stage interview with CyclingPro.net. I've been looking for this shape, this level for a long time. In Tirreno, I hadn't reached it yet. I'm very happy to have the support of the team. This area suits me because the steep climbs are short.

"I am proud to wear the jersey in the Basque Country. My goal was to have a nice GC and now I'm leading it with one day left."

Evenpoel said he chose to attack on the shallow gradient of the stair-stepped Calabieta the moment he thought his rivals would take longer to recover.

"The attack was hard and fast. Everyone wants to recover when they stall on the climbs, but I wanted to keep the pace high. We talked about it before the race. There was quite a valley to the finish and both Roglic and Yates fell off. I think there were stronger riders in front of me today."

Evenepoel led a group of eight behind lone leader Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), pushing Roglic and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) out of GC range. However, contact with Roglic was broken and he finished a few seconds further back.

In the uphill sprint before the finish, Evenepoel said he was involved in a crash between Alexandre Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Roglic's teammate Jonas Vingegaard. He finished two seconds behind Martinez, giving the Colombian a six-second advantage, but a time bonus cut the gap to two seconds again going into a very difficult final stage.

"The final was really hectic and maybe the rain pushed me a bit over the edge. With 75 meters to go I slipped and lost a position. That cost Martinez a little bit of time."

"This is life. Spain and rain is never a good combination. Spain and rain is never a good combination. To be able to wear the yellow jersey during the hardest week of World Tour racing this season leaves me speechless."

The final stage from Eibar to Alate is short at 135.7 km, but flat out from the beginning. The category 1 Azurqui is climbed in just 52.4 km, and the devilishly steep Claverin (4.1 km), with an average gradient of 10.5%, awaits at 41 km to go. Just before the finish, another Category 1 climb, Usalts (4.5 km, 8.8%), awaits.

Evenpole is hoping for a breakaway group, but expects the final stage to be tough.

"They say attack is the best defense, but I expect a big battle with Martinez. For my part, I expect the breakaway group to be involved in a big battle for the yellow jersey. If it comes down to a sprint, it will be a completely different story than today. I just have to be on the right wheels. 0]

If Evenpoel fends off the challenge of Martinez and a block of nine others within 90 seconds of him, including Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Vlasov, Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Vingegaard, Enric Mas (Movistar), Roglic and Yates If he succeeds in doing so, he will win his second World Tour stage race since winning the 2020 Tour de Pollogne.