Bilbao - Slovenia's Primoz Roglic made a solo break and clung on for a nail-biting win on stage four of the Tour of the Basque Country on Thursday.
Late in the 174km run from San Sebastien to Bilbao Roglic made a series of bids on a hilly section to shake off his rivals and clinch victory by just a two-second margin.
Australia's Michael Matthews was second on the day heading up the chasing pack, while Spain's David de la Cruz held the overall leader's yellow jersey by a single second on Roglic.
Defending champion Alberto Contador suffered a puncture late on but avoided losing time by fighting back into the field on a teammates' bike.
On Friday, the 139.8km run from Bilbao to Eibar has six category climbs culminating in a summit finish, before Saturday's deciding time-trial.