Tour of the Basque Country 2022: GC Favourites
image: Cor VosRoglic is not only defending his title in the Basque Country, the Slovene is also top favourite to add another win to his tally. Cyclingstage.com takes a closer look at the major contenders to win the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country.
[Underneath article was written before the start of the Tour of the Basque Country and has not been updated]
The GC battle ignites as early as the first day with an individual time trial. It may not be long, but the course is demanding. Last year, Roglic struck a first blow on a similar route in Bilbao.
In terms of the GC battle two more days at the Itzulia Basque Country stand out – stage 5 and, particularly, the final stage. The race on the fifth day is not ideal to open up huge gaps, but it’s piquant nevertheless. The route goes up and down during the entire day until the Karabieta opens the finale with 20 kilometres to go. The irregular ascent is 6.7 kilometres long before the riders descend onto a friendly finish climb. That is, until the last few hundred metres go up at double digit gradients.
The last stage features all the raw materials to turn into a thriller. It’s only 136 kilometres long and takes in seven sharp Basque climbs. The last ascent is the renowned Arrate climbt, which is 4.5 kilometres at 8.9% before the last 2 kilometres are an undulating run-in to the line.
The Arrrate finish climb is a Itzulia Basque Country fixture. It also served as a finale of the 1st stage of the 2020 Vuelta a España. The Slovene stormed into the red jersey, while he sealed last year’s Tour of the Basque Country triumph on the renowned climb.
So far, three riders have been successful in the stage races of 2022 – Tadej Pogacar (UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico), Primoz Roglic (Parijs-Nice), and Sergio Higuita (Volta a Catalunya).
Favourites Tour of the Basque Country 2022
**** Primoz Roglic, Sergio Higuita, Adam Yates
*** David Gaudu, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel
** Daniel Felipe Martínez, Julian Alaphilippe, Aleksandr Vlasov, Michael Woods
* Enric Mas, Carlos Rodriguez, Ion Izagirre, Emanuel Buchmann, Pello Bilbao, Pierre Latour
Tour of the Basque Country Route
Tour of the Basque Country Riders
Watch the highlights of recent races here:
Related articles Izagirre wins final stage, Martínez takes the overall - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Rodriguez wins stage 5, Evenepoel new leader - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Sprint triumph Martínez, Roglic keeps GC lead - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Bilbao outguns Alaphilippe, Roglic stays in GC lead - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Alaphilippe sprints to triumph, Roglic still leader - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Roglic flies to leader's jersey in ITT - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Starting times ITT - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Route stage 1: Hondarribia ITT - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Route stage 2: Leitza - Viana - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Route stage 3: Laudio - Amurrio - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Route stage 4: Vitoria-Gasteiz - Zamudio - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Route stage 5: Zamudio - Mallabia - Tour of the Basque Country 20 Route stage 6: Eibar - Arrate - Tour of the Basque Country 20 More articles Tour of Valencia 2023: The Route
Tour of Valencia 2023: Favourites
Tour of Valencia 2023: Riders
Tour of Valencia 2023 Route stage 1: Orihuela - Altea
Tour of Valencia 2023 Route stage 2: Novelda - Alto de Pinos
Tour of Valencia 2023 Route stage 3: Betera - Segunto
Tour of Valencia 2023 Route stage 4: Burriana - Alto de la Cueva Santa
Tour of Valencia 2023 Route stage 5: Paterna – Valencia
UAE Tour 2023: The Route
UAE Tour 2023: Riders
Giro 2023: The Route
Giro 2023: Riders
Giro 2023 Route stage 1: Fossacesia - Ortona
Giro 2023 Route stage 2: Teramo - San Salvo
Giro 2023 Route stage 3: Vasto - Melfi
Giro 2023 Route stage 4: Venosa - Lago Laceno
Giro 2023 Route stage 7: Capua - Gran Sasso
Cycling Calendar 2023
Ruta del Sol 2023: The Route
Tour de France 2023: The Route
Tour de France 2023: Riders
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 1: Bilbao - Bilbao
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz - San Sebastián
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano - Bayonne
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 6: Tarbes - Cauterets
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 9: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 13: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 14: Annemasse - Morzine
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 15: Les Gets - Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc
Tour de France 2023 Route stage 20: Belfort - Le Markstein
Vuelta 2023: The Route
Like our Facebook page and stay on top of all pro-race information!