Male Team 05 - 10 Apr
Itzulia Basque Country
794 Kilometers 6 Stages
The race will be broadcast live every day on Eurosport 1 and GCN, at 3.30pm CEST.
There will be 10-6-4″ up for grabs at each of the five road stages, with 3-2-1″ at the intermediate sprints.
Eusebio Unzué’s organisation has six victories to its different names in the Itzulia, the last of which was obtained by Alejandro Valverde in 2017.
After a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic in 2020, unable to get some dates in the revamped summer calendar, the Itzulia / Vuelta al País Vasco is back in 2021 with a route just as demanding as usual, with mountains over each and every of its six stages – including the opening TT, no less than in Bilbao (Monday 5th), initially climbing to Santo Domingo before a brutal kick up to the line near the city council (13.9km in total).
The ascents of San Cosme (Cat-3), Beci (Cat-2) and especially La Asturiana (Cat-2), before a final slope in Sestao (Tuesday 6th), will continue to liven up the race in Biscay, before travelling to Álava on Wednesday 7th for a difficult stage three finale, up Malkuartu (Cat-2) and the mountain-top finish of Ermualde (Cat-1), in Llodio.
Stage four on Thursday 8th will take the race to the Gipuzkoa coast, over Jaizkibel (Cat-2) and Erlaitz (Cat-2) en route to a flat finish in Hondarribia, suited for breakaways or a fast finish. On Friday 9th, the hills of Gontzagarai (Cat-3) and San Miguel (Cat-3) will lead to a series of little lumps near Ondarroa, another finish for adventurers. And last but not least, on Saturday 10th, a brutal test: seven climbs in just 112km, including Usatza (Cat-1) en route to the Arrate sanctuary, the most traditional Basque finish.