Cycling fans are already preparing to live from this Monday one of the most iconic races on the cycling calendar: the Itzulia, the Tour of the Basque Country, which will bring together great figures from the peloton through the demanding levels that make up the Basque geography and that They will bring about great battles on roads always full of people cheering on the runners.
Profiles and routes of Itzulia, the Tour of the Basque Country 2023
Stage 1: Vitoria-Gasteiz – Labastida (Monday, April 3)
The Tour of the Basque Country, Itzulia 2023, will start with a 165.4-kilometre route between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Labastida. A route in which the Opakua stop (2nd, 7.1 km at 5.8%) presents itself as the main difficulty among the numerous slopes that the peloton will have to face before arriving at Labastida, where the ramps at 8% and at 6% in the last kilometer could encourage the wall specialists to look for victory.
Stage 2: Viana – Leitza (Tuesday, April 4)
The second day of the Itzulia will enter the roads of Navarra with a route of 193.8 kilometers between Viana and Leitza, the hometown of Mikel Nieve. The ascent to Etxauri (2nd, 11.3 km at 3.3%) will be the prelude to the final 80 demanding kilometers with the ascents to Uitzi (3rd), Arkiskil (3rd), Saldias (2nd) and passing through the another slope of Arkiskil (2nd, 11 km at 3.2%), which they will crown with 5 kilometers to go, to face a rapid descent towards the finish in Leitza.
Stage 3: Errenteria – Amasa-Villabona (Wednesday, April 5)
The third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country will cover a large part of the province of Guipúzcoa on a 162.8-kilometre route between Errenteria and the arrival in Villabona. After riding the first kilometers near the coast, the cyclists will face a demanding leg-breaking journey as they enter the interior of the province with ascents to the heights of Meagas (3rd), Andazarrate (3rd), Alkiza (3rd), Altzo (3rd) , Orendain (3rd), another pass through Altzo (3rd) before entering an area full of slopes before the tough finish in Villabona, with the climb to Hika, with a final kilometer at 11.7% and ramps of up to 26% .
Stage 4: Santurtzi – Santurtzi (Thursday, April 6)
The province of Vizcaya will be the protagonist in the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country with a route of 175.7 kilometers starting and finishing in Santurtzi. It will be a new day full of steep slopes and heights with the ascents to Malkuartu (3rd), Santa Koloma (3rd) and Bezi (3rd) before returning to Santurtzi to face the decisive climb of the day to La Asturiana, second category with its 7.4 kilometers at 6.5% that will crown 15 kilometers from the finish line to face a rapid descent at the finish in Santurtzi.
Stage 5: Amorebieta-Etxano – Amorebieta-Etxano (Friday, April 7)
The runners will have another demanding day of heights and walls on the roads of Vizcaya in the fifth stage of the Itzulia on a 165.9-kilometre route starting and finishing in Amorebieta-Etxano. A day in which, at the start, the cyclists will climb Mount Kalbo (3rd) and the heights of Natxitua (3rd), Paresi and Belarrinaga (3rd) before facing a series of slopes prior to the Amorebieta-Etxano finish line.
Stage 6: Eibar – Eibar (Saturday, April 8)
The final fireworks of the Tour of the Basque Country will take place in a demanding sixth stage with a route of 137.8 kilometers starting and finishing in Eibar. The climbs to Elkorrieta (3rd) and Azurki, first class with its 5.1 kilometers at 7.4%, could break the start race along with the climb to Gorla (2nd, 9.6 km at 5.7% ). After its descent, a 20-kilometer flat section will take the cyclists to the ascent to Krabelin, one of the slopes of Arrate, in the first category with its 5 kilometers at 9.6%. After passing through Markina-Xemein, the cyclists will climb Trabakua (3rd) and, after passing through Eibar, they will ascend the always demanding Izua, another slope of Alto de Arrate, first class with its 4.1 kilometers at 9.2%. After his descent, the climb to Urkaregi (3rd) will be the last difficulty before arriving in Eibar, where the champion’s ‘txapela’ will be awarded to the winner of the Itzulia 2023 overall.
Teams and participants of the Tour of the Basque Country, Itzulia 2023
A total of 23 teams will take the start of the Tour of the Basque Country, Itzulia, this Monday in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Among these teams, the presence of the 18 UCI World Tour teams stands out, in addition to TotalEnergies, which achieved its classification based on sporting merits, and the four Spanish UCI ProTeam teams that want to be protagonists in the race: Burgos-BH, Caja Rural – Seguros RGA, Kern Pharma and Euskaltel-Euskadi.
In this way, a total of 161 runners will form the ‘horse’ or peloton of this Tour of the Basque Country, Itzulia, to face one of the most characteristic one-week races along its walls.
The favorites to win the Itzulia, the Tour of the Basque Country 2023
The Tour of the Basque Country, Itzulia 2023, will bring together some of the great figures of the peloton who will try to find the ‘txapela’ champion. Cyclists of the stature of Daniel Felipe Martínez, Egan Bernal, Jonas Vingegaard, Enric Mas, Rubén Guerreiro, Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Simon Yates, David Gaudu, Emanuel Buchmann, Sergio Higuita, Ion Izagirre, Richard Carapaz, Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Urán , Cristian Rodríguez, Rui Costa, Mauro Schmid, Bauke Mollema, Juanpe López, Attila Valter, Brandon McNulty, Marc Hirschi or Marc Soler will be some of the riders to follow as the main contenders for the final victory.
