Tour of the Basque Country

Spanish multi-day road cycling race

Tour of the Basque Country 2024 Tour of the Basque Country

Race details
Date| Early-April
Region| Spanish Basque Country
English name| Tour of the Basque Country
Local name(s)|

* Vuelta al País Vasco (in Spanish)
* Euskal Herriko itzulia (in Basque)

Discipline| Road
Competition| UCI World Tour
Type| Stage race
Web site| www.itzulia.eus
History
First edition| 1924 (1924)
Editions| 63 (as of 2024)
First winner|  Francis Pélissier (FRA)
Most wins|

* José Antonio González (ESP)
* Alberto Contador (ESP)
* (4 wins each)

Most recent|  Juan Ayuso (ESP)

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]

## History

[edit]

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 España Gran 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.

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

[edit]

Source:[3]

Year  | Country  | Rider  | Team

|
|
|

1924 |  France | Francis Pélissier |
1925 |  Belgium | Auguste Verdyck |
1926 |  Luxembourg | Nicolas Frantz |
1927 |  France | Victor Fontan |
1928 |  Belgium | Maurice De Waele |
1929 |  Belgium | Maurice De Waele |
1930 |  Spain | Mariano Cañardo |
1931–
1934  | No race
1935 |  Italy | Gino Bartali |
1936–
1968  | No race
1969 |  France | Jacques Anquetil |
1970 |  Spain | Luis Pedro Santamarina |
1971 |  Spain | Luis Ocaña |
1972 |  Spain | José Antonio González |
1973 |  Spain | Luis Ocaña |
1974 |  Spain | Miguel María Lasa |
1975 |  Spain | José Antonio González |
1976 |  Italy | Gianbattista Baronchelli |
1977 |  Spain | José Antonio González |
1978 |  Spain | José Antonio González |
1979 |  Italy | Giovanni Battaglin |
1980 |  Spain | Alberto Fernández |
1981 |  Italy | Silvano Contini |
1982 |  Spain | José Luis Laguía | Reynolds
1983 |  Spain | Julián Gorospe | Reynolds
1984 |  Ireland | Sean Kelly | Skil–Reydel–Sem–Mavic
1985 |  Spain | Pello Ruiz Cabestany | Seat–Orbea
1986 |  Ireland | Sean Kelly | Kas
1987 |  Ireland | Sean Kelly | Kas
1988 |  Netherlands | Erik Breukink | Panasonic–Isostar–Colnago–Agu
1989 |  Ireland | Stephen Roche | Fagor–MBK
1990 |  Spain | Julián Gorospe | Banesto
1991 |  Italy | Claudio Chiappucci | Carrera Jeans–Tassoni
1992 |  Switzerland | Tony Rominger | CLAS–Cajastur
1993 |  Switzerland | Tony Rominger | CLAS–Cajastur
1994 |  Switzerland | Tony Rominger | Mapei–CLAS
1995 |  Switzerland | Alex Zülle | ONCE
1996 |  Italy | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco–AS Juvenes San Marino
1997 |  Switzerland | Alex Zülle | ONCE
1998 |  Spain | Íñigo Cuesta | ONCE
1999 |  France | Laurent Jalabert | ONCE–Deutsche Bank
2000 |  Germany | Andreas Klöden | Team Telekom
2001 |  Lithuania | Raimondas Rumšas | Fassa Bortolo
2002 |  Spain | Aitor Osa | iBanesto.com
2003 |  Spain | Iban Mayo | Euskaltel–Euskadi
2004 |  Russia | Denis Menchov | Illes Balears–Banesto
2005 |  Italy | Danilo Di Luca | Liquigas–Bianchi
2006 |  Spain | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | Saunier Duval–Prodir
2007 |  Spain | Juan José Cobo | Saunier Duval–Prodir
2008 |  Spain | Alberto Contador | Astana
2009 |  Spain | Alberto Contador | Astana
2010 |  United States | Chris Horner | Team RadioShack
2011 |  Germany | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack
2012 |  Spain | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel–Euskadi
2013 |  Colombia | Nairo Quintana | Movistar Team
2014 |  Spain | Alberto Contador | Tinkoff–Saxo
2015 |  Spain | Joaquim Rodríguez | Team Katusha
2016 |  Spain | Alberto Contador | Tinkoff
2017 |  Spain | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team
2018 |  Slovenia | Primož Roglič | LottoNL–Jumbo
2019[4] |  Spain | Ion Izagirre | Astana
2020  | No race due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021[5] |  Slovenia | Primož Roglič | Team Jumbo–Visma
2022[6] |  Colombia | Daniel Martínez | Ineos Grenadiers
2023 |  Denmark | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Jumbo–Visma
2024 |  Spain | Juan Ayuso | UAE Team Emirates

### Multiple winners

[edit]

Wins  | Rider  | Editions

|
|

4 |  José Antonio González (ESP) | 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978
Alberto Contador (ESP) | 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016
3 |  Sean Kelly (IRL) | 1984, 1986, 1987
Tony Rominger (SUI) | 1992, 1993, 1994
2 |  Maurice Dewaele (BEL) | 1928, 1929
Luis Ocaña (ESP) | 1971, 1973
Julián Gorospe (ESP) | 1983, 1990
Alex Zülle (SUI) | 1995, 1997
Andreas Klöden (GER) | 2000, 2011
Primož Roglič (SLO) | 2018, 2021

### Most stage wins

[edit]

# | Rider | Stage wins

|
|

1  |  Domingo Perurena (ESP) | 11
Seán Kelly (IRL) | 11
3  |  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) | 9
4  |  Tony Rominger (SUI) | 8
Samuel Sánchez (ESP) | 8
6  |  Alberto Contador (ESP) | 7
7  |  Miguel María Lasa (ESP) | 6
Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) | 6
Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | 6
9  |  José Antonio González Linares (ESP) | 5
Stefano Zanini (ITA) | 5
Primož Roglič  (SVN) | 5

### Wins per country

[edit]

Wins | Country

|

28 |  Spain
7 |  Italy
5 |  Switzerland
4 |  France
Ireland
3 |  Belgium
2 |  Colombia
Germany
Slovenia
1 |  Denmark
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Russia
United States

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Spanish: Vuelta al País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Itzulia
2. ^ Middendorp, Koen. "Voorbeschouwing: Ronde van Het Baskenland 2019". Wieleflirts. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
3. ^ "Itzulia Basque Country past winners 1924 to 2021". cyclingnews.com. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
4. ^ Ryan, Barry (13 April 2019). "Tour of the Basque Country 2019: Stage 6 Results". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
5. ^ "Primoz Roglic wins Itzulia Basque Country". cyclingnews.com. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
6. ^ Fletcher, Patrick (9 April 2022). "Daniel Martínez wins Itzulia Basque Country". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website (in Spanish)
* Tour of the Basque Country palmares at Cycling Archives (archived, or current page in French)

* v
* t
* e

Tour of the Basque Country

* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931–1934
* 1935
* 1936–1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
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* 2001
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UCI World Tour

Seasons|

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UCI WorldTeams|

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Races|

| Active|

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* v
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UCI ProTour

Seasons|

* 2005
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* Merged into the UCI World Tour

Races|

* Tour Down Under
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* Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
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*[FRA]: France
*[ESP]: Spain
*[IRL]: Ireland
*[SUI]: Switzerland
*[BEL]: Belgium
*[GER]: Germany
*[SLO]: Slovenia
*[ITA]: Italy
*[SVN]: Slovenia
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