Tour of the Basque Country 2026

Edition 65 of the Tour of the Basque Country - or, Itzulia Basque Country - start on Monday and finishes the following Saturday. The contest in northern Spain is a feast for climbers and puncheurs, as the Basque Country is famous for its steep hills and mountains. This year's route features 16,291 metres of climbing over 809.6 kilometres, and the start list is exceptionally strong.

Discover the route and start list for the Tour of the Basque Country.

João Almeida won last year's edition ahead of Enric Mas and Maximilian Schachmann.

Another interesting read: records & winners Itzulia Basque Country.

Click the links in the table below for detailed stage descriptions.

Tour of the Basque Country 2026 stages:

	date	start - finish	km	type	results	winner	leader
1	6-4	Bilbao - Bilbao	13.9	ITT
2	7-4	Pamplona - Cuevas de Mendukilo	164.1	mountains
3	8-4	Basauri - Basauri	152.8	hills
4	9-4	Galdakao - Galdakao	167.2	hills
5	10-4	Eibar - Eibar	176.2	mountains
6	11-4	Goizper-Antzuola - Bergara	135.4	mountains

Tour of the Basque Country 2026: route & profiles

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Tour of the Basque Country 2026 Route - source: www.itzulia.eus

route

stage 1

stage 2

+ Click for more images (4)

stage 4

stage 5

stage 6

Tour of the Basque Country 2025: video highlights - source:youtube.com

video highlights

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Riders

Isaac del Toro - Tour of the Basque Country 2026: Riders

The firepower in the Basque Country is impressive. Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Paul Seixas, Primoz Roglic, Ben Healy, Mattias Skjelmose and Tobias Halland Johannessen are among the riders fighting for the GC. Who else is riding the race locally known as the Itzulia Basque Country?

Route

Tour of the Basque Country 2026

The Tour of the Basque Country starts this coming Monday and finishes on Saturday 11 April. The riders face plenty of climbing, often at brutal gradients, but there are no long finishing climbs. Instead, the finish line is placed several times on punchy uphill ramps. Over six days, the riders tackle 16,291 metres of climbing on an 809.6-kilometre route.

Bilbao - Bilbao

Monday 6 April – The Tour of the Basque Country opens with an ITT for punchers. Immediately after the start, the riders tackle a 2.6-kilometre climb, and the race finishes on a short ramp of 600 metres. Over 13.9 kilometres, the route features an elevation gain of 240 metres.

Pamplona - Cuevas de Mendukilo

Tuesday 7 April – The 2nd stage of the Tour of the Basque Country covers 164.1 kilometres from Pamplona to the Caves of Mendukilo. With 19.5 kilometres to go, they crest a 9.5-kilometre climb at 7.7%, before descending towards a rolling finishing climb of 3.5 kilometres. The route totals an elevation gain of 3,268 metres.

Winners and records

Joao Almeida - Tour of the Basque Country: Winners and records

The Tour of the Basque Country is a stage race dating back to 1924, therefore it is one of the oldest stage races on the calendar. The route is marked by many sharp climbs so it’s a treat to the mountain goats in the peloton. Cyclingstage.com brings you recent winners and records.