The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: Itzulia Basque Country)[1] 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 are not 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%.[2]
The original Tour of the Basque Country had a troubled history, with eight editions contested between 1924 and 1935, before the Spanish Civil War seemingly wiped it out for good. One of these early editions is commentated on in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 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.
^Spanish: Vuelta al País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Itzulia
^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 linksedit
Official website(in Spanish)
Tour of the Basque Country palmares at Cycling Archives
January 01, 1970
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The Tour of the Basque Country Officially Itzulia Basque Country 1 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 are not 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 2 Tour of the Basque Country2024 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 Editions63 as of 2024 First winner Francis Pelissier FRA Most wins Jose Antonio Gonzalez ESP Alberto Contador ESP 4 wins each Most recent Juan Ayuso ESP Contents 1 History 2 Winners 2 1 Multiple winners 2 2 Most stage wins 2 3 Wins per country 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 Spanish Civil War seemingly wiped it out for good One of these early editions is commentated on in Ernest Hemingway s 1926 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 3 Year Country Rider Team 1924 nbsp France Francis Pelissier 1925 nbsp Belgium Auguste Verdyck 1926 nbsp Luxembourg Nicolas Frantz 1927 nbsp France Victor Fontan 1928 nbsp Belgium Maurice De Waele 1929 nbsp Belgium Maurice De Waele 1930 nbsp Spain Mariano Canardo 1931 1934 No race 1935 nbsp Italy Gino Bartali 1936 1968 No race 1969 nbsp France Jacques Anquetil 1970 nbsp Spain Luis Pedro Santamarina 1971 nbsp Spain Luis Ocana 1972 nbsp Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez 1973 nbsp Spain Luis Ocana 1974 nbsp Spain Miguel Maria Lasa 1975 nbsp Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez 1976 nbsp Italy Gianbattista Baronchelli 1977 nbsp Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez 1978 nbsp Spain Jose Antonio Gonzalez 1979 nbsp Italy Giovanni Battaglin 1980 nbsp Spain Alberto Fernandez 1981 nbsp Italy Silvano Contini 1982 nbsp Spain Jose Luis Laguia Reynolds 1983 nbsp Spain Julian Gorospe Reynolds 1984 nbsp Ireland Sean Kelly Skil Reydel Sem Mavic 1985 nbsp Spain Pello Ruiz Cabestany Seat Orbea 1986 nbsp Ireland Sean Kelly Kas 1987 nbsp Ireland Sean Kelly Kas 1988 nbsp Netherlands Erik Breukink Panasonic Isostar Colnago Agu 1989 nbsp Ireland Stephen Roche Fagor MBK 1990 nbsp Spain Julian Gorospe Banesto 1991 nbsp Italy Claudio Chiappucci Carrera Jeans Tassoni 1992 nbsp Switzerland Tony Rominger CLAS Cajastur 1993 nbsp Switzerland Tony Rominger CLAS Cajastur 1994 nbsp Switzerland Tony Rominger Mapei CLAS 1995 nbsp Switzerland Alex Zulle ONCE 1996 nbsp Italy Francesco Casagrande Saeco AS Juvenes San Marino 1997 nbsp Switzerland Alex Zulle ONCE 1998 nbsp Spain Inigo Cuesta ONCE 1999 nbsp France Laurent Jalabert ONCE Deutsche Bank 2000 nbsp Germany Andreas Kloden Team Telekom 2001 nbsp Lithuania Raimondas Rumsas Fassa Bortolo 2002 nbsp Spain Aitor Osa iBanesto com 2003 nbsp Spain Iban Mayo Euskaltel Euskadi 2004 nbsp Russia Denis Menchov Illes Balears Banesto 2005 nbsp Italy Danilo Di Luca Liquigas Bianchi 2006 nbsp Spain Jose Angel Gomez Marchante Saunier Duval Prodir 2007 nbsp Spain Juan Jose Cobo Saunier Duval Prodir 2008 nbsp Spain Alberto Contador Astana 2009 nbsp Spain Alberto Contador Astana 2010 nbsp United States Chris Horner Team RadioShack 2011 nbsp Germany Andreas Kloden Team RadioShack 2012 nbsp Spain Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel Euskadi 2013 nbsp Colombia Nairo Quintana Movistar Team 2014 nbsp Spain Alberto Contador Tinkoff Saxo 2015 nbsp Spain Joaquim Rodriguez Team Katusha 2016 nbsp Spain Alberto Contador Tinkoff 2017 nbsp Spain Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team 2018 nbsp Slovenia Primoz Roglic LottoNL Jumbo 2019 4 nbsp Spain Ion Izagirre Astana 2020 No race due to the COVID 19 pandemic 2021 5 nbsp Slovenia Primoz Roglic Team Jumbo Visma 2022 6 nbsp Colombia Daniel Martinez Ineos Grenadiers 2023 nbsp Denmark Jonas Vingegaard Team Jumbo Visma 2024 nbsp Spain Juan Ayuso UAE Team Emirates Multiple winners edit Wins Rider Editions 4 nbsp Jose Antonio Gonzalez ESP 1972 1975 1977 1978 nbsp Alberto Contador ESP 2008 2009 2015 2016 3 nbsp Sean Kelly IRL 1984 1986 1987 nbsp Tony Rominger SUI 1992 1993 1994 2 nbsp Maurice Dewaele BEL 1928 1929 nbsp Luis Ocana ESP 1971 1973 nbsp Julian Gorospe ESP 1983 1990 nbsp Alex Zulle SUI 1995 1997 nbsp Andreas Kloden GER 2000 2011 nbsp Primoz Roglic SLO 2018 2021 Most stage wins edit Rider Stage wins 1 nbsp Domingo Perurena ESP 11 nbsp Sean Kelly IRL 11 3 nbsp Laurent Jalabert FRA 9 4 nbsp Tony Rominger SUI 8 nbsp Samuel Sanchez ESP 8 6 nbsp Alberto Contador ESP 7 7 nbsp Miguel Maria Lasa ESP 6 nbsp Joaquim Rodriguez ESP 6 nbsp Alejandro Valverde ESP 6 9 nbsp Jose Antonio Gonzalez Linares ESP 5 nbsp Stefano Zanini ITA 5 nbsp Primoz Roglic SVN 5 Wins per country edit Wins Country 28 nbsp Spain 7 nbsp Italy 5 nbsp Switzerland 4 nbsp France nbsp Ireland 3 nbsp Belgium 2 nbsp Colombia nbsp Germany nbsp Slovenia 1 nbsp Denmark nbsp Lithuania nbsp Luxembourg nbsp Netherlands nbsp Russia nbsp United StatesReferences edit Spanish Vuelta al Pais Vasco Basque Euskal Herriko Itzulia 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 1217652656, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
