The American broke clear of the peloton soon after the start in Amorebietano-Etxano and stayed away over the summits of the Côte de Trabakua, Côte de Milloi, Col d’Itziar, and Côte d’Orioko Benta to win every point he could have won on the route and extend his lead in the race for the polka-dot jersey. He soared along the coast of the Bay of Biscay, ducking into Basque fishing towns and over surf-battered headlands on his way to the French border and the finish in Bayonne. Huge crowds waving local flags cheered for Neilson every time he went for a summit in his polka-dot climber’s jersey. He saluted them every time he reached a top. With his feats in the Basque Country, Neilson has won the hearts of cycling’s most passionate supporters.

He sat up to save his legs for the Pyrénees after the Côte d’Orioko Benta. Tomorrow’s lumpy run from Dax to Nagaro only features one fourth-category climb. The Tour will then hit the first high mountains of this year’s race. Stage five from Pau to Laurens will be a huge test. It crosses the Hors-Categorie Col de Soudet, third-category Col d’Ichere, and first-category Col de Marie Blanque. The next day in the Hautes-Pyrénées will be even harder. En route from Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque and the first summit finish of the 2023 Tour lie the mythical Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet.

Neilson will recover hard and get ready for the fight to stay in polka dots.

Read his thoughts from after today’s stage, and then hear from his teammates.

It has been a successful day. I got to score some KOM points today and it didn’t cost too much energy, so I’m happy. We definitely have to focus on the Pyrénées, both for the KOM jersey and to get a stage win. Several teammates of mine have been resting up these days, so hopefully we will be able to pull something off. I felt very good today. Everything is going in a good direction. I’ll have one day to relax tomorrow that will help get me ready for the Pyrénées.

It was relatively tranquil to start and then absolutely bloody rapid to finish. And then Neilson obviously did his thing to get some points up the road and all was well, nice and easy in the peloton. And then the last 45-50 kilometers, it was hell for leather. My first impressions of a Tour de France bunch sprint were that it was chaos. When it goes fast, it is so fast, so fast it is ridiculous. It must be a k an hour faster than everything else. When it is easy, it is easy, but when it is full, it is full!

I am sad to be leaving the Basque Country, but we are in the Tour de France, and we have to do our lap of France now! Today was pretty intense, fast, and nervous in the end. We are happy with keeping the mountains jersey. That is a good thing. And we finished early, so we have more time to recover.

Every day at the Tour de France is really hard. We won’t have one day easy. There is always stress with the climbs or the crosswinds. The fans in the Basque country were impressive. Today was really nice.

My day? It was a good day! On the Tour de France, you don’t have easy days. Today in the finale, we pushed hard, but then went to the back. It was a good day!

It was good. The first thing was getting Neilson up the road, getting some points, and for the rest of us it was just about getting through the stage as easy as possible without crashing and we all did that pretty well. You really feel the fans. It is loud here at the Tour. I was rolling in for the last three kilometers with one of my Danish friends and it was almost impossible to talk. I am sure the scenery looks good on camera, but in the bunch you need to focus on the riders in front of you.

I enjoyed the coast. San Sebastian is beautiful. I wish I was on holiday and could go to the beach and swim!