Had it been a close contest over the last two days, world champion Julien Alaphilippe could have won three of the four stages in Iturria-Basque.

Instead, the Frenchman benefited from a perfect leadout by Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl teammate Remco Evenpole on stage 2 of this week's Viana.

On day four in Ituria, he lost a one-tire lead to Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) on Zamudio, missing out on victory by the slimmest of margins. On Wednesday, he narrowly lost to Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) in the uphill sprint in Amurio.

After a nightmare early time trial in which he lost 44 seconds due to an unforced bike change, the 29-year-old is looking for a win and bonus seconds in stages 2, 3, and 4. He has accumulated 22 seconds so far to close the gap to race leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) and should form a strong double threat with Evenpoel in the two remaining tough, hilly stages.

After the fourth stage, Alaphilippe told the assembled press, "I'm still a little unsure."

"Lemko did another great job at the end. My legs were good, but I made a few mistakes today."

"I don't know what was missing. Even though I won a few days ago, I'm still a little unsure and maybe I lack the instinct to fight for victory every day.

"Of course, you can't win every day, but you will have to correct these little mistakes quickly."

Alaphilippe, of course, is looking ahead to the upcoming Ardennes Classic. He will miss the Amstel Gold Race, which takes place a week earlier this year, the day after Itzuria finishes, but has ambitions to win Brabantspaille (winner in 2020), La Flèche Wallonne (three-time winner), and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (runner-up in 2021) with the ambition to win the competition.

A week of hard racing in the Basque Country should be good preparation for a successful next two weeks in Belgium. Thursday's stage 4 is the latest challenge in the race and will be even tougher in the remaining two days.

Alaphilippe finished with 33 other riders after his teammate Evenpoel played a major role in catching Cofidis' Victor Lafaye, who escaped with 1km to go.

It was another brutal capture late in the breakaway, after Khan Farma's Ivon Ruiz caught up with 400 meters to go on stage 2. Alaphilippe said he sympathized with his countryman Lafaye, who won a stage at last year's Giro d'Italia.

"I didn't think I could catch the breakaway group on the last climb," he said. "I didn't think I could catch the breakaway on the last climb, especially when I heard it was Victor Lafaye in front of me. I would have been happy if he had won the stage."