The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) 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 The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an ann ...

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 aren't 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%.

History

The original Tour of the Basque Country had a troubled history, with eight editions contested between 1924 and 1935, before the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

seemingly wiped it out for good. One of these early editions is commentated on in

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

's novel ''

The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...

''. In 1952, the Eibar Cycling Club (erstwhile backers of Spain's first national stage race, the pre-

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

''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 Rolf Wolfshohl (born 27 December 1938) is a former professional road bicycle racing and cyclo-cross racing cyclist from Germany. Wolfshohl is best known in cyclo-cross for winning the world championship three times, and in road racing for winn ...

) 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 Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ...

, 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 Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the V ...

, 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. From 2022, the race has a counterpart in the UCI Women's World Tour - the

Itzulia Women The Itzulia Women is a women's cycle stage race in Spain, part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race takes place in the Basque Country autonomous community in Northern Spain, on tough, hilly roads - with the 2022 edition featuring thirteen cl ...

. The winner traditionally dons a

basque beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...

on the podium.

Winners

Source:

Multiple winners

Most stage wins

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour of the Basque Country Recurring sporting events established in 1924 UCI ProTour races Cycle races in the Basque Country UCI World Tour races 1924 establishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community)