Frenchman Axel Laurance said he "became someone else" to clinch the third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on Wednesday after a late two-man battle with Spaniard Igor Arrieta.
Ineos Grenadiers' Laurance finished two seconds ahead of local boy Arrieta with Eritrean Natnael Tesfatsion 14sec behind in third place, after a 152.8km loop starting and ending in Basauri.
"I was really optimistic for today, my legs felt good," the 24-year-old said.
"At the end, when he launched, I had cramp.
"It was just mentally, when I saw the finish line I became someone else.
"I knew it was only a few seconds of suffering for a big moment of joy," he added.
Overall leader Paul Seixas of France retained his advantage of 1min 59sec in the yellow jersey, having dominated the opening two stages.
😤 𝐍𝐎 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐍𝐎 𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍 🥵
— Itzulia Basque Country (@ehitzulia) April 8, 2026
🏆 @laurance_axel 🤝 @INEOSGrenadiers #Itzulia2026 pic.twitter.com/YSoxpJF0Wp
Former Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana winner Primoz Roglic is second in the general classification and German Florian Lipowitz is third at 2min 08sec.
Riders departed from Basauri in unusually warm temperatures of more than 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahreneit).
Isaac del Toro, one of Seixas' major rivals for the yellow jersey, withdrew from the race after being involved in a crash with 74km to go.
Mexican Del Toro, a teammate of Tadej Pogacar and Arrieta at UAE Team Emirates, seemed to have hurt his hand and leg.
With 90km to go, a 14-man breakaway group was formed. They grew their lead to 1min 20sec over the next 50km as the peloton moved towards the daunting climb up Bikotx-Gane.
Laurance and Arrieta made their move on that category two ascent and were neck-and-neck until the final seconds in the Bilbao suburbs.
Laurance then pipped 23-year-old Arrieta by powering away with less than 200m to the finish line.
Thursday's fourth of six stages is another loop, with a 167.2km ride centred around Galdakao as the peloton briefly races along the coast to the north-east of Bilbao.