Tour of the Basque Country
| File:Tour of the Basque Country logo.svg | |
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | Early-April |
| Region | Spanish Basque Country |
| English name | Tour of the Basque Country |
| Local names |
|
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | Major one week stage race |
| History | |
| First edition | 1924 |
| Editions | 64 (as of 2025) |
| First winner | File:Flag of France.svg Francis Pélissier (FRA) |
| Most wins |
|
| Most recent | File:Flag of Portugal (official).svg João Almeida (POR) |
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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]
History
[edit | edit source]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 | edit source]Source:[3]
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Multiple winners
[edit | edit source]| Wins | Rider | Editions |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | File:Flag of Spain.svg José Antonio González (ESP) | 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978 |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Alberto Contador (ESP) | 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016 | |
| 3 | File:Flag of Ireland.svg Sean Kelly (IRL) | 1984, 1986, 1987 |
| File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Tony Rominger (SUI) | 1992, 1993, 1994 | |
| 2 | File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Maurice Dewaele (BEL) | 1928, 1929 |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Luis Ocaña (ESP) | 1971, 1973 | |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Julián Gorospe (ESP) | 1983, 1990 | |
| File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Alex Zülle (SUI) | 1995, 1997 | |
| File:Flag of Germany.svg Andreas Klöden (GER) | 2000, 2011 | |
| File:Flag of Slovenia.svg Primož Roglič (SLO) | 2018, 2021 |
Most stage wins
[edit | edit source]| # | Rider | Stage wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Flag of Spain.svg Domingo Perurena (ESP) | 11 |
| File:Flag of Ireland.svg Seán Kelly (IRL) | 11 | |
| 3 | File:Flag of France.svg Laurent Jalabert (FRA) | 9 |
| 4 | File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Tony Rominger (SUI) | 8 |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Samuel Sánchez (ESP) | 8 | |
| 6 | File:Flag of Spain.svg Alberto Contador (ESP) | 7 |
| 7 | File:Flag of Spain.svg Miguel María Lasa (ESP) | 6 |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) | 6 | |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | 6 | |
| 9 | File:Flag of Spain.svg José Antonio González Linares (ESP) | 5 |
| File:Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Zanini (ITA) | 5 | |
| File:Flag of Slovenia.svg Primož Roglič (SVN) | 5 |
Wins per country
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References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Spanish: Vuelta al País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Itzulia
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Official website (in Spanish)
- Tour of the Basque Country palmares at Cycling Archives (archived, or current page in French)