The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: Itzulia Basque Country, Spanish: Vuelta al País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is a mountainous area, there are few flat stages, and thus the event favors those who are strong climbers. The race is characterized by its short stages, rarely exceeding 200 km, and steep ascents. While the ascents featured in the race aren't particularly high compared to other stage races, they are among the steepest seen in professional cycling, some having sections with gradients reaching well above 20%.[1]
The original Tour of the Basque Country had a troubled history, with eight editions contested between 1924 and 1935, before the civil war seemingly wiped it out for good. One of these early editions is commentated on in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises.
In 1952, the Eibar Cycling Club (erstwhile backers of Spain's first national stage race, the pre-Vuelta a EspañaGran Premio República) launched a new 3-day event called Gran Premio de la Bicicleta Eibarresa to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Former French national champion Louis Caput took the inaugural edition.
In 1969, organizers opted to promote the race (by then five stages long) as IX Vuelta al País Vasco - XVIII Bicicleta Eibarresa, effectively merging the Bicicleta Eibarresa into a reborn Tour of the Basque Country. However, the palmares of the Bicicleta Eibarresa (featuring Vuelta a España winners Jesús Loroño and Rolf Wolfshohl) is not recognized as part of the Tour of the Basque Country's history. The Eibar Cycling Club would relinquish control of the competition following the 1973 edition, while retaining the rights to the Bicicleta Eibarresa name, which has sporadically been reactivated to help promote other, lower ranked events.
The first winner of the Tour of the Basque Country was Francis Pélissier from France, while the first winner of the 'modern' Tour (1969) was Jacques Anquetil, also of France. The most successful riders in the history of the Tour are Spain's José Antonio González, who won the race four times in 1972, 1975, 1977 and 1978, and Spain's Alberto Contador, who also won the race four times in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2016. Since its revival in 1969, it has been held every year with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
^Middendorp, Koen. "Voorbeschouwing: Ronde van Het Baskenland 2019". Wieleflirts. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^"Itzulia Basque Country past winners 1924 to 2021". cyclingnews.com. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^Ryan, Barry (13 April 2019). "Tour of the Basque Country 2019: Stage 6 Results". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^"Primoz Roglic wins Itzulia Basque Country". cyclingnews.com. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
^Fletcher, Patrick (9 April 2022). "Daniel Martínez wins Itzulia Basque Country". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
External links
Official website(in Spanish)
Tour of the Basque Country palmares at Cycling Archives
February 07, 2023
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The Tour of the Basque Country Officially Itzulia Basque Country Spanish Vuelta al Pais Vasco Basque Euskal Herriko Itzulia is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar As the Basque Country is a mountainous area there are few flat stages and thus the event favors those who are strong climbers The race is characterized by its short stages rarely exceeding 200 km and steep ascents While the ascents featured in the race aren t particularly high compared to other stage races they are among the steepest seen in professional cycling some having sections with gradients reaching well above 20 1 Tour of the Basque Country2022 Tour of the Basque CountryRace detailsDateEarly AprilRegionSpanish Basque CountryEnglish nameTour of the Basque CountryLocal name s Vuelta al Pais Vasco in Spanish Euskal Herriko itzulia in Basque DisciplineRoadCompetitionUCI World TourTypeStage raceWeb sitewww wbr itzulia wbr eusHistoryFirst edition1924 1924 Editions61 as of 2022 First winner Francis Pelissier FRA Most wins Jose Antonio Gonzalez ESP Alberto Contador ESP 4 wins Most recent Daniel Martinez COL Contents 1 History 2 Winners 2 1 Multiple winners 2 2 Most stage wins 3 References 4 External linksHistory EditThe original Tour of the Basque Country had a troubled history with eight editions contested between 1924 and 1935 before the civil war seemingly wiped it out for good One of these early editions is commentated on in Ernest Hemingway s novel The Sun Also Rises In 1952 the Eibar Cycling Club erstwhile backers of Spain s first national stage race the pre Vuelta a Espana Gran Premio Republica launched a new 3 day event called Gran Premio de la Bicicleta Eibarresa to celebrate its 25th anniversary Former French national champion Louis Caput took the inaugural edition In 1969 organizers opted to promote the race by then five stages long as IX Vuelta al Pais Vasco XVIII Bicicleta Eibarresa effectively merging the Bicicleta Eibarresa into a reborn Tour of the Basque Country However the palmares of the Bicicleta Eibarresa featuring Vuelta a Espana winners Jesus Lorono and Rolf Wolfshohl is not recognized as part of the Tour of the Basque Country s history The Eibar Cycling Club would relinquish control of the competition following the 1973 edition while retaining the rights to the Bicicleta Eibarresa name which has sporadically been reactivated to help promote other lower ranked events The first winner of the Tour of the Basque Country was Francis Pelissier from France while the first winner of the modern Tour 1969 was Jacques Anquetil also of France The most successful riders in the history of the Tour are Spain s Jose Antonio Gonzalez who won the race four times in 1972 1975 1977 and 1978 and Spain s Alberto Contador who also won the race four times in 2008 2009 2014 and 2016 Since its revival in 1969 it has been held every year with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic From 2022 the race has a counterpart in the UCI Women s World Tour the Itzulia Women The winner traditionally dons a basque beret on the podium Winners EditSource 2 Year Country Rider Team1924 France Francis Pelissier1925 Belgium Auguste Verdyck1926 Luxembourg Nicolas Frantz1927 France Victor Fontan1928 Belgium Maurice De Waele1929 Belgium Maurice De Waele1930 Spain Mariano Canardo1931 1934 No race1935 Italy Gino Bartali1936 1968 No race1969 France Jacques Anquetil1970 Spain Luis Pedro Santamarina1971 Spain Luis Ocana1972 Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez1973 Spain Luis Ocana1974 Spain Miguel Maria Lasa1975 Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez1976 Italy Gianbattista Baronchelli1977 Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez1978 Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez1979 Italy Giovanni Battaglin1980 Spain Alberto Fernandez1981 Italy Silvano Contini1982 Spain Jose Luis Laguia Reynolds1983 Spain Julian Gorospe Reynolds1984 Ireland Sean Kelly Skil Reydel Sem Mavic1985 Spain Pello Ruiz Cabestany Seat Orbea1986 Ireland Sean Kelly Kas1987 Ireland Sean Kelly Kas1988 Netherlands Erik Breukink Panasonic Isostar Colnago Agu1989 Ireland Stephen Roche Fagor MBK1990 Spain Julian Gorospe Banesto1991 Italy Claudio Chiappucci Carrera Jeans Tassoni1992 Switzerland Tony Rominger CLAS Cajastur1993 Switzerland Tony Rominger CLAS Cajastur1994 Switzerland Tony Rominger Mapei CLAS1995 Switzerland Alex Zulle ONCE1996 Italy Francesco Casagrande Saeco AS Juvenes San Marino1997 Switzerland Alex Zulle ONCE1998 Spain Inigo Cuesta ONCE1999 France Laurent Jalabert ONCE Deutsche Bank2000 Germany Andreas Kloden Team Telekom2001 Lithuania Raimondas Rumsas Fassa Bortolo2002 Spain Aitor Osa iBanesto com2003 Spain Iban Mayo Euskaltel Euskadi2004 Russia Denis Menchov Illes Balears Banesto2005 Italy Danilo Di Luca Liquigas Bianchi2006 Spain Jose Angel Gomez Marchante Saunier Duval Prodir2007 Spain Juan Jose Cobo Saunier Duval Prodir2008 Spain Alberto Contador Astana2009 Spain Alberto Contador Astana2010 United States Chris Horner Team RadioShack2011 Germany Andreas Kloden Team RadioShack2012 Spain Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel Euskadi2013 Colombia Nairo Quintana Movistar Team2014 Spain Alberto Contador Tinkoff Saxo2015 Spain Joaquim Rodriguez Team Katusha2016 Spain Alberto Contador Tinkoff2017 Spain Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team2018 Slovenia Primoz Roglic LottoNL Jumbo2019 3 Spain Ion Izagirre Astana2020 No race due to the COVID 19 pandemic2021 4 Slovenia Primoz Roglic Team Jumbo Visma2022 5 Colombia Daniel Martinez Ineos GrenadiersMultiple winners Edit Wins Rider Editions4 Jose Antonio Gonzalez ESP 1972 1975 1977 1978 Alberto Contador ESP 2008 2009 2015 20163 Sean Kelly IRL 1984 1986 1987 Tony Rominger SUI 1992 1993 19942 Maurice Dewaele BEL 1928 1929 Luis Ocana ESP 1971 1973 Julian Gorospe ESP 1983 1990 Alex Zulle SUI 1995 1997 Andreas Kloden GER 2000 2011 Primoz Roglic SLO 2018 2021Most stage wins Edit Rider Stage wins1 Domingo Perurena ESP 11 Sean Kelly IRL 113 Laurent Jalabert FRA 94 Tony Rominger SUI 8 Samuel Sanchez ESP 86 Alberto Contador ESP 77 Miguel Maria Lasa ESP 6 Joaquim Rodriguez ESP 6 Alejandro Valverde ESP 69 Jose Antonio Gonzalez Linares ESP 5 Stefano Zanini ITA 5 Primoz Roglic SVN 5References Edit Middendorp Koen Voorbeschouwing Ronde van Het Baskenland 2019 Wieleflirts Retrieved 12 April 2019 Itzulia Basque Country past winners 1924 to 2021 cyclingnews com 31 March 2022 Retrieved 12 April 2022 Ryan Barry 13 April 2019 Tour of the Basque Country 2019 Stage 6 Results cyclingnews com Retrieved 12 April 2022 Primoz Roglic wins Itzulia Basque Country cyclingnews com 10 April 2021 Retrieved 12 April 2022 Fletcher Patrick 9 April 2022 Daniel Martinez wins Itzulia Basque Country cyclingnews com Retrieved 12 April 2022 External links EditOfficial website in Spanish Tour of the Basque Country palmares at Cycling Archives Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tour of the Basque Country amp oldid 1094786850, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
