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Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty) crossed the finish line first on a crash-marred largely neutralised stage 4 at the Itzulia Basque Country.
Officials neutralized the main peloton – with the exception of six breakaway riders – after a serious crash on a descent with 35km to go, which saw multiple riders go down, including overall race leader Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).
Although the main field was neutralised into Legutio, and GC times were not taken at the finish, officials allowed the original breakaway of six riders to continue the last 20km and contest the stage win.
Three of those six riders continued onward: Meintjes, Reuben Thompson (Groupama), and Karel Vacek (Burgos-BH). Some 10 kilometres out, Meintjes went clear and crossed the line to take the stage win.
Meintjes said that although he crossed the line first, it did not feel like a victory, given the crash that injured multiple riders and sent them to the hospital.
“I felt good. If there had been a chance for the break, I would have been ready to fight for the stage, but…
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