Itzulia Basque Country, aka, the Tour of the Basque Country or the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, is a six-day stage race taking place from 3rd to 8th April in the Basque region of northern Spain.
This year there will be an extra emphasis on this historic race, which had its first edition in 1922, with the first three stages of the 2023 Tour de France also in the Basque Country, although there won’t be a crossover of major climbs between Itzulia and the Tour, with this race actually having no summit finishes despite its far-from-easy parcours.
The 2022 race was won by Ineos Grenadiers’ Dani Martínez ahead of Ion Izagirre and Aleksandr Vlasov, with other notable names in the top ten including Remco Evenepoel in fourth, Jonas Vingegaard in sixth and Primož Roglič in eighth.
This year’s edition begins in Vitoria-Gasteiz and finishes in Eibar and includes three uphill finishes, one being a very steep ramp and the other two rather more understated. The other three stages either finish with a descent or coming off a descent, so it could be a great week for breakaways.
Itzulia Basque Country 2023: Key information
Ineos Grenadiers’ Dani Martínez won the overall in 2022EurosportDates: 3rd April-8th April 2023Start: Vitoria-GasteizFinish: EibarStages: SixUK television coverage: Eurosport, GCN+, Discovery+Most wins: Alberto Contador and Jose Antonio González, four2022 winner: Dani Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers)
Itzulia Basque Country 2023 route
Itzulia Basque Country
The mountains that run through the Basque Country – funnily enough known as the Basque Mountains – join the Pyrenees in the east and the Cantabrian mountains in the west, and are generally considered part of the latter (and all three are considered the same range by some).
It’s a region packed with short but brutal climbs, and we’ll see some of that in the opening stages of the Tour de France too, so don’t think by looking at these profiles that it’ll be an easy race, the podium in 2021 was Primož Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar.
The top three places get bonus seconds at sprints (3, 2 and 1) and at the finish (10, 6 and 4) so expect overall contenders to challenge for everything they can get. There’s also a prize for best Basque rider, which went to Ion Izagirre in 2022, all competing Basque riders are in italics in the start list further down the page.
Itzulia Basque Country 2023: stage-by-stage
Stage 1: Monday 3rd April, Vitoria-Gasteiz – Labastida, 165.4km
Itzulia Basque Country
Yeah it’s a little lumpy – nothing crazy, but you can probably rule out sprinters (the ones that are there instead of Flanders/Roubaix, pray for them) as the final kilometres have 8% ramps and it’s 6% up to the finish.
Stage 2: Tuesday 4th April, Viana – Leitza, 193.8km
Itzulia Basque Country
Ion Izagirre has five podiums in Itzulia, including winning in 2019. Yes he’s Basque so it means more but also finishes like this are his bread and butter. This stage comes down to Izagirre and fellow Basque rider Pello Bilbao, book it.
Stage 3: Wednesday 5th April, Errenteria – Amasa-Villabona, 153.9km
Itzulia Basque Country
That finish ramps up to 26%, cue a big shake-up.
Stage 4: Thursday 6th April, Santurtzi – Santurtzi, 175.7km
Itzulia Basque Country
Another descending finish means attacks over the top of La Asturiana are inevitable and it’s likely a breakaway takes this.
Stage 5: Friday 7th April, Amorebieta-Etxano – Amorebieta-Etxano, 165.9km
Itzulia Basque Country
Again, it’s hard to imagine anything other than a breakaway win with such a lumpy – but not crazy – profile. The finish comes off a descent with 1.5km to go and has a 180° turn with about 500m remaining.
Stage 6: Saturday 8th April, Eibar – Eibar, 137.8km
Itzulia Basque Country
This beast of a stage his several brutal climbs to drop anyone with tired legs before an uphill drag to the line will decide the GC.
Itzulia Basque Country 2023: live TV and streaming guide
At last year’s race Jonas Vingegaard and Aleksandr Vlasov finished Stage 5 on foot after coming together very slowly on the final climbEurosport
As per every WorldTour race, Itzulia Basque Country will be broadcast live on Eurosport and available to stream live on GCN+ and Discovery+ (all with the same coverage, times below).
GCN+ costs £6.99 paid monthly, or £39.99 per year and Discovery+ costs £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year for sports and entertainment (for fans of shows like 90 Day Fiancé and Ghost Adventures).
Streaming coverage via GCN+ will be available worldwide including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA, but double-check territory restrictions to avoid disappointment.
TV and streaming schedule below UK time and subject to change by broadcasters.
Stage 1: Monday 3rd April
14:30-17:00
Stage 2: Tuesday 4th April
14:30-17:00
Stage 3: Wednesday 5th April
14:30-17:00
Stage 4: Thursday 6th April
14:30-17:00
Stage 5: Friday 7th April
14:30-17:00
Stage 6: Saturday 8th April
14:15-17:00
Itzulia Basque Country 2023: Start list
Basque riders in italics.
AG2R-Citroën
Alex BaudinFelix GallJaakko HänninenPaul LapeiraValentin Paret-PeintreNicolas ProdhommeAndrea Vendrame
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Tobias BayerNicola ConciQuinten HermansJimmy JanssensXandro MeurisseStefano OldaniKristian Sbaragli
Arkéa-Samsic
Clément ChampoussinThibault GuernalecSimon GuglielmiMichel RiesAlan RiouCristián RodríguezAlessandro Verre
Astana Qazaqstan
Samuele BattistellaDavid de la CruzFabio FellineAleksandr RiabushenkoJavier Romo OliverLuis León SánchezCristian Scaroni
Bahrain Victorious
Yukiya ArashiroPello BilbaoRainer KepplingerMikel LandaHermann PernsteinerJasha SütterlinEdoardo Zambinini
Bora-Hansgrohe
Cesare BenedettiEmanuel BuchmannSergio HiguitaLuis-Joe LührsAnton PalzerIde SchellingBen Zwiehoff
Burgos-BH
Andres Camilo ArdilaJetse BolJose Manuel DiazJesus EzquerraVictor LangellottiDaniel NavarroAnder Okamika
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
Orluis Alberto AularFernando BarceloJon BarrenetxeaJefferson CepedaJokin MurguialdayJoel NicolauEduard Prades
Cofidis
Thomas ChampionIon IzagirreSimon GeschkeJosé HerradaJonathan LastraRémy RochasHarrison Wood
EF Education-EasyPost
Andrey AmadorJonathan CaicedoRichard CarapazEsteban ChavesOdd Christian EikingKudus GhebremedhinRigoberto Urán
Equipo Kern Pharma
Jon AgirreIgor ArrietaGiovanni CarboniIñigo EloseguiPau MiquelJose Felix ParraIbon Ruiz
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Mikel BizkarraJoan BouCarlos CanalAsier EtxeberriaUnai IribarTxomin JuaristiGotzon Martin
Groupama-FDJ
Bruno ArmirailDavid GauduRomain GregoireMatthieu LadagnousQuentin PacherMichael StorerLars van den Berg
Ineos Grenadiers
Egan BernalJonathan CastroviejoOmar FraileEthan HayterDani MartínezBrandon RiveraCarlos Rodríiguez
Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
Lilian CalmejaneRui CostaKobe GoossensLaurens HuysDion SmithRein TaaramäeGeorg Zimmerman
Jayco-AlUla
Lawson CraddockEdward DunbarChris HarperChris Juul-JensenJan MaasMatteo SobreroSimon Yates
Jumbo-Visma
Rohan DennisThomas GloagSteven KruijswijkGijs LeemreizeSam OomenAttila ValterJonas Vingegaard
Movistar
Ruben Antonio AlmeidaAlex AranburuJorge ArcasEnric MasGregor MühlbergerGonzalo SerranoGorka Izagirre
Soudal-QuickStep
Andrea BagioliRémi CavagnaJames KnoxFausto MasnadaMauro SchmidMartin SvrčekMauri Vansevenant
Team DSM
Romain CombaudMatthew DinhamSean FlynnMax PooleFlorian StorkMartijn TusveldHenri Vandenabeele
TotalEnergies
Mathieu BurgaudeauJeremy CabotSteff CrasVictor de la ParteAlan JousseaumePierre LatourAlexis Vuillermoz
Trek-Segafredo
Jon AberasturiJulien BernardTony GallopinJuan Pedro LopezMattias Skjelmose JensenToms SkujinsNatnael Tesfazion
UAE Team Emirates
Juan AyusoDavide FormoloFelix GroßschartnerBrandon McNultyMarc SolerDiego UlissiAdam Yates
Itzulia Basque Country previous winners
2022: Dani Martínez2021: Primož Roglič2020: No race2019: Ion Izagirre2018: Primož Roglič2017: Alejandro Valverde2016: Alberto Contador2015: Joaquim Rodríguez2014: Alberto Contador2013: Nairo Quintana2012: Samuel Sánchez2011: Andreas Klöden2010: Chris Horner2009: Alberto Contador2008: Alberto Contador2007: Juan José Cobo2006: José Ángel Gómez Marchante2005: Danilo Di Luca2004: Denis Menchov2003: Iban Mayo2002: Aitor Osa2001: Raimondas Rumsas2000: Andreas Klöden1999: Laurent Jalabert1998: Íñigo Cuesta1997: Alex Zülle1996: Francesco Casagrande1995: Alex Zülle1994: Tony Rominger1993: Tony Rominger1992: Tony Rominger1991: Claudio Chiappucci1990: Julián Gorospe1989: Stephen Roche1988: Erik Breukink1987: Sean Kelly1986: Sean Kelly1985: Pello Ruiz Cabestany1984: Sean Kelly1983: Julián Gorospe1982: José Luis Laguía1981: Silvano Contini1980: Alberto Fernández Blanco1979: Giovanni Battaglin1978: José Antonio González Linares1977: José Antonio González Linares1976: Gianbattista Baronchelli1975: José Antonio González Linares1974: Miguel María Lasa1973: Luis Ocaña1972: José Antonio González Linares1971: Luis Ocaña1970: Luis Pedro Santamarina1969: Jacques Anquetil1936-1968: No race1935: Gino Bartali1931-1934: No race1930: Mariano Cañardo1929: Maurice De Waele1928: Maurice De Waele1927: Victor Fontan1926: Nicolas Frantz1925: Auguste Verdyck1924: Francis Pélissier
