Due to its hilly profile, the fourth stage of the Basque race turned out to be an interesting one for the escapees. Shortly after the start in Vitoria-Ganzeis, a front group of fourteen took the lead and steadily increased it to three minutes. The peloton, led by Team Jumbo-Visma, kept the margin within limits and did not give the strong group too much space.

On the final steep climb some of the GC riders tried to force the pace, but Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard were alert. In the descent to the finish, the depleted peloton attempted to close the gap on the last remaining escapee and succeeded with one kilometre to go. A sprint between the classification riders ensued and was won by Daniel Felipe Martinez.

Roglic had to settle for fourth. "Of course I would have liked to win, but I lacked a bit of luck today", Roglic said. "It was a tough day with many attacks and action on the final climb. Jonas and I rode full speed to the finish."

Two challenging stages await on Friday and Saturday. Roglic expects an interesting battle between the classification riders. "Tomorrow we have to cross a lot of mountains and the finish is at the top of a steep climb. Hopefully I have good legs so I can go up with the best. We’re going to do everything we can to keep the yellow jersey."