The presence of Juan Ayuso, winner in 2022, and two climbs to the Pike wall, with ramps of up to 20 percent unevenness, lead to a Tour-flavored Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Otxoa Circuit for this Sunday, since it was that wall discovered precisely by this race in 2020, the one that opened just a month ago the great French race that started from Bilbao. LBecause it will be the 78th edition of the classic Biscay Circuit of Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Otxoa, a 193.3-kilometre route with up to six points that can be scored, will bring together a peloton of 18 teams at the start in Bilbao next to the Guggenheim Museum, from which six will be WorldTour, the first international division.
out of all of them the UAE of Juan Ayuso stands out, who heads the list of pre-registered for his team despite the fall last Tuesday in Ordizia that cost him the victory in the Gipuzkoan classic. The rider born in Barcelona and resident in Jávea, one of the great promises of world cycling, will try to repeat his brilliant triumph last year, a victory in a four-way uphill sprint that preceded his subsequent great Tour of Spain, in the who got on the final podium without having turned 20 yet.
Among Ayuso’s main rivals, in the absence of definitive confirmation from all the teams, the Italian Giulio Ciccone, winner of a stage and the mountains classification in the recently finished Tour de France and leader of an equally powerful Lidl- Trek with the Andalusian Juanpe López in his ranks. Also Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), also winner of a stage in this last Tour; the Spanish champion Oier Lazkano (Movistar), who also fell in Ordizia when he was looking for victory with Ayuso; or the Bora-Hansgrohe Maximilian Schachmann and Alexandre Vlasov.
Iván Romeo’s Astana completes the half dozen World Tour teams in a peloton that will also start the national ‘Pro Team’ Euskaltel-Euskadi, Caja Rural, Kern Pharma and Burgos-BH, as well as Eolo Kometa (Italy), Human Powered Health (United States) and Total Energies (France); and the ‘continentals’ Electro Hiper Europa, JCL Team Urkyo (Japan), Sicasal (Angola), Global 6 (New Zealand) and Victoria Sports (Philippines). The route, a total of 193.3 kilometres, consists of seven laps of a 23 km circuit that ends at the Arkotxa wall, an 800-metre slope with sections that reach up to 14% unevenness.
Before six scoring climbs. The two from Pike (Second / 2.1 km at 9.3 percent and ramps of up to 20 percent), the second with only 15 km to go; and four to Akarlanda, in Unbe, from Third and more lying. This year the former runner honored by the race, who acts as honorary director of the race, is Julián Gorospe (Mañaria/1960), a legend of the 80s at Reynolds along with Perico Delgado and Ángel Arroyo, among others, and one of the best Biscayan cyclists in history.
