Race leader Primoš Roglic, who finished fourth in the sprint finish in Iturria Basque on stage 4, said he was "a little short on legs and luck."

Jumbo Visma has led the race since Monday's 7.5km time trial in Hondarribia, when he finished five seconds ahead of Remco Evenpole (Quick-Step Alfavinil) and 18 seconds ahead of his remaining GC rival. Since this first stage, however, Roglic has not shown his devastating strength.

He did not participate in the uphill sprint won by Julien Alaphilippe on the second stage of Ituria in Viana, and he did not sprint again on Wednesday to join the lead group. The hilly course to Zamudio on stage 4 ended with another sprint from the lead group. This time, Roglic made a dash for the finish line, but was passed by stage winner Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers), Alaphilippe, and Diego Ulissi.

"I always want to win, but my legs and luck are a little bit lacking. 'I really wanted to win. But I'm well enough to stay with this group." Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme joked after the stage that "he's always in yellow" (open in new tab).

He holds a five-second lead over Evenpoel, but other rivals are closing in on him with time bonuses earned in stages 2, 3, and 4. Martinez is in third place, 11 seconds back after taking 10 seconds in Zamudio, Alexandre Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) is 14 seconds off the lead after taking 4 seconds on Wednesday, and Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) is 19 seconds back after his stage win.

But it was Alaphilippe who gained the most time, taking a bonus second from the opening time trial, which was hampered by mechanical problems, to bring his race lead to within 22 seconds. But Roglic admitted that the toughest day was yet to come, even though those seconds are shrinking by the day. Friday's final stage crosses 11 hills to Maravia, and the 136-km finishing stage around Eibar has three first-class climbs awaiting, including the famous Alto de Arate. When asked about the challenging days ahead, he replied, "For sure. There are some big climbing stages coming up. The last two stages were super hard. Tomorrow we have a lot of climbing, and Saturday is the queen stage. I'm looking forward to it."